Towards Sustainable Food Services in Hospitals: Expanding the Concept of 'Plate Waste' to 'Tray Waste'

Early debates on the sustainability of food-plating systems in hospitals have concentrated mostly on plate waste food served, but not eaten. This study aims to address the need for more comprehensive studies on sustainable food services systems by expanding the concept of plate waste, to that of tray waste (organic and inorganic materials), through a case study of a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Tray waste arising at the ward level was audited for three weeks, covering 939 meals. It was found that, on average, each patient threw away 0.41, 0.30, 0.12, and 0.02 kg of food, plastic, paper, and metal, respectively, each day. All this equated to 4831 tons of food, 3535 tons of plastic, 1414 tons of paper, and 235 tons of metal each year at hospitals across Saudi Arabia. As all of this waste ends up in landfills, without any form of recycling, this study proposes the need for a more comprehensive, political approach that unites all food system stakeholders around a shared vision of responsible consumption and sustainable development.