Sophie Elliott, Edward Stratton, Charlie Royle, and Kesta Kemp have created the KnoWaste tech start-up, which focuses on reducing food wastage in the education sector. The app informs caters of the meal choice of diners with their exact numbers, further making diners aware of the environmental costs of their meals.
The web-based app aims to cut food waste by up to 50% in schools and universities. The students have been awarded £10,000 for the app, with which they seek to develop the technology further and run multiple trials in September when they plan to roll out the app in five schools in the South West.
According to Edward Stratton, the app is a “two-pronged solution” that focuses both on sustainable eating and food waste. “Catering teams know the exact number of diners eating but also the choice of the meal, so that reduces production and spoilage waste.”
“One the diner side, we use gamification and visualisation techniques to inform diners of the environmental cost of their food and improve the overall dining experience,” he added.
KnoWaste differs from the rest as it focuses on the environment. It uses a combination of online databases and self-built databases to illustrate the carbon cost in miles driver, with the water used in litres for every meal. The technology is currently limited to individual and single set of menus and schools in Cornwall and Bristol are giving it a try.
“We want to help a cultural shift towards more sustainable consumption behaviours. That is the long-term ideal for us,” Stratton added.
For the future, the group aims to incorporate the app in all schools nationwide, hospitals, universities, and catered offices.
