ANNOUNCEMENTS
Climate change is one of the most sensitive topics in talks since the last 10 years and will be for many more. As governments and private sector are getting more aware, many innovations and technologies have come up so as to reduce emissions. One area which has huge potential to reduce emissions is the food waste sector which if considered as a country is the third highest emitter in the world. With the ever-increasing population and livestock, there has been a competition between animals and humans for food. The planet is seeing a lot of pressure on natural resources and the generation of food waste doesn’t seem to reduce. The number of livestock in India is the highest, but its’ productivity being one of the lowest in the world. One Indian company which is working to bridge all such gaps is Wastelink which is recycling food loss and waste into high nutrition animal feed. This is one of the upcoming solutions in food waste management, though it is not new. Usually, food waste is either composted or converted to biogas but this option has been neglected by many countries, neither legalized nor much research done on its impacts on the environment, society and economics. This dissertation bridges this gap and highlights the various positive impacts this solution has on the three pillars of sustainability in Indian context and also studies the external and internal environment surrounding Wastelink which can help in understanding such a food to feed recycling company, the different factors playing roles in its success in India. The results show quantitative metrics on the impacts of Wastelink on emissions, land, water, livestock, farmers, society etc. and also enabling factors, challenges etc. and suggestions to scale up more such companies in this sector in India.
Keywords: recycling food waste, animal feed, preventing GHG emissions, environmental-social-economic impact, livestock.
