Artificial intelligence isn’t just coming for your job. It’s also coming for your trash.
Restaurants and grocery stores are now using AI to assess what food they are throwing away in an effort to combat food waste, The New York Times reported.
Food waste is a big problem. Some 30% to 40% of the food grown in the United States goes uneaten and trashed, Business Insider previously reported. Much of that wasted food ends up in a landfill instead of being composted.
To fight that and other contributors to mass waste, companies are training AI to analyze restaurant garbage and grocery store purchases to determine which food — and how much of it — is being discarded. They can then use that data to decide whether to purchase less of a given product based on how much it’s selling or being consumed versus thrown out.
Afresh, for instance, uses AI to monitor grocery store inventory and purchases. The company aims to “eliminate food waste and make nutritious food more accessible,” according to CEO Matt Schwartz.
Winnow takes a similar approach to restaurants. The company installs cameras above garbage bins, which AI then monitors to assess what food is going to waste and how much is discarded.
With that data in hand, restaurants can shift to smaller portions of the food that’s getting trashed. Or even remove those items from the menu altogether. The company says it has helped restaurant kitchens slash their purchasing costs by up to 8% by monitoring garbage and tackling waste.
The food waste problem is real, especially given the growing global population, which is expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050. People living in poverty are spending 50% to 80% of their income on food alone, according to the United Nations Environment Program. And reducing food waste could reduce pressure on water supplies and lower deforestation, the agency says.
