Ocado Group

Researchers from Cardiff Business School have teamed up with the world's largest dedicated online grocery retailer to investigate the environmental and social implications of food waste.

The £50,000 project is led by Dr Vasco Sanchez-Rodrigues, Dr Paul Wang and Dr Emrah Demir from the School's Logistics and Operations Management Section and the Panalpina Centre for Manufacturing and Logistics Research.

Globally, the total amount of food waste in 2007 occupied almost 1.4 billion hectares, equal to approximately 28 percent of the world's agricultural land area and costing approximately £500 million. Collaborating with the Ocado Group offers a unique opportunity to develop an innovative methodology to estimate the footprint of food waste.

With access to Ocado's supply chains, the research team will be able to implement smart tools and methods which will shed light on how food waste can be reduced.

WRAP Cymru, the circular economy experts, will also be a part of the project. WRAP works with UK governments, the EU and other funders to help deliver their policies on waste prevention and resource efficiency.