Technological Solutions for Food Waste Management : Results from NextGen

The goal of this report is to serve as a guide to technological solutions for food waste management. It describes the technologies and results of our pilot project for companies and organizations interested in reducing food waste through technological means. The report is a technology-focused practical resource created during the University of Vaasa’s NextGen project. Our aim is to provide an accessible tool that can explain scientific and technological solutions in an understandable manner to a wide range of target audiences. We bring together both global and local perspectives, focusing on the opportunities provided by technology, such as digital infrastructures, smart scales, predictive models, and user-centered design principles for food waste management. The report presents the technological infrastructure developed in the NextGen project and demonstrates the benefits of waste management technologies in terms of data and savings. The report outlines the multi-year development and piloting of the NextGen project. It describes the different project phases and explains how, starting with users, the system was designed to serve the diverse staff of the pilot site. The report covers both technical details from system architecture diagrams to practical demonstrations in the form of on-site waste scale photos. In this way, readers gain a comprehensive understanding of food waste management solutions used in the project. The aim of the report is to provide a blueprint for anyone interested in replicating or learning from the project’s implementation and results. It walks through the entire cycle of food waste from measurement, monitoring, and predicting to eventual utilization. This cycle is closely accompanied by technology, which forms an integral part of the food waste reduction process. To support this aim, the report also presents detailed project outcomes, highlighting how systematic changes can achieve around a 40 percent reduction in food waste, as successfully demonstrated at the pilot site. The report demonstrates how the project’s outputs transform academic research into practical tools for businesses, organizations, educational institutions, industry, policymakers, and technology developers. By combining technological innovation, changes in practices, and participatory design, it illustrates how systematic change can be achieved at a practical level. The system developed during the project, as presented in the report, is a replicable model with direct environmental, economic, and social impacts, showcasing the need for and benefits of new food waste system innovations and investments.