Carbon emissions get most attention in sustainability discussions, but water is an equally critical resource—and one under increasing stress globally. When food is wasted, all the water used to produce it is wasted too.
Embedded Water in Food
Agriculture accounts for 70% of global freshwater use. Different foods require vastly different amounts:
| Food | Litres of water per kg |
|---|---|
| Beef | 15,000 |
| Sheep meat | 10,000 |
| Pork | 6,000 |
| Cheese | 5,000 |
| Chicken | 4,300 |
| Rice | 2,500 |
| Wheat | 1,800 |
| Vegetables | 300-400 |
A single 200g steak that ends up in the bin represents 3,000 litres of water—enough to fill 20 bathtubs.
The Hospitality Context
For hospitality operations, this has several implications:
Menu composition matters: High-water-footprint items (particularly beef and dairy) have outsized impact when wasted.
Regional relevance varies: Water scarcity is a more acute issue in some regions than others. Operations in water-stressed areas face particular responsibility.
Supply chain pressure: Food producers in water-scarce regions face increasing production constraints. Reducing waste is increasingly a supply security issue, not just a sustainability preference.
Calculating Your Water Footprint
To estimate your operation's water footprint from waste:
- Track waste by food category
- Apply water footprint factors to each category
- Sum for total embedded water in waste
For a kitchen wasting 100kg food monthly:
- 20kg beef waste × 15,000 = 300,000 litres
- 30kg mixed protein × 5,000 = 150,000 litres
- 50kg vegetables × 350 = 17,500 litres
Total: 467,500 litres monthly—over 5.5 million litres annually
That's a meaningful water impact, and one that can be reduced through waste management.
Reporting and Communication
Water footprint is increasingly requested in sustainability reporting:
- CDP Water Security questionnaire
- Water-specific sections in ESG frameworks
- Client sustainability requirements
Being able to quantify and demonstrate reduction in your water footprint from waste strengthens your sustainability credentials.
Taking Action
The same interventions that reduce food waste also reduce water footprint:
- Better demand forecasting reduces over-purchasing
- Menu optimisation can shift mix toward lower-impact items
- Waste tracking identifies where highest-impact waste occurs
Calculate your environmental impact including water footprint with our tools.