While there are better solutions to prevent food waste, it's understandable when businesses throw away expired food. It makes a lot less sense when businesses throw away food that's still unexpired and in its wrapper, like the massive pile of snacks one dumpster diver recently found.
What happened?
The post appeared on r/DumpsterDiving, among many other updates showing off the treasures that companies throw away. "Wow!" said the original poster. "Ninety bags of Snickers!"
Their post included a photo of a pile of Snickers, which they said they found behind a CVS. Each large bag held 10.59 ounces of candy, or more than half a pound, meaning they found 45 pounds of Snickers alone.
"Also found about 25 bags of Twix, 8 bags of Milky Ways and all other kinds of junk food," said the original poster.
They also did their due diligence to make sure the food was safe. "All expire March 2024. … I checked and no recalls. I guess the store just found a box or 2 or 3 they hadn't opened."
After making that determination, they decided to donate the candy.
"Boggles my mind when you see this; why would they throw it out? Why not discount it?" asked a commenter.
Why does it matter if CVS wastes candy?
When companies are careless about losing inventory, it's because they've raised prices to account for the losses — so this kind of behavior costs anyone who shops at CVS.
Also, food — especially a highly processed item like a chocolate bar — represents a big investment of materials and resources. Ingredients must be grown, harvested, transported, and cooked into the final product. When food goes to waste, we must make even more, which means more land, water, and energy used and more pollution created.
Is CVS doing anything about this?
According to CVS, part of its sustainability plan is reducing waste. "We have plans in place to reduce the amount of waste generated across our enterprise. That includes liquidation, donation and recycling of unsalable products," the company says on its website. It also claims in a 2023 sustainability report that it diverts 50% of its waste from the landfill.
In addition, other large retailers like Kroger and Trader Joe's have donated or given away food following electrical outages.
What are the options to help reduce waste?
When a company has food to get rid of, donating is a great option if it hasn't gone bad or been damaged. Companies can also use apps like Too Good To Go to sell it at a discount and recover some costs.
If there are questions about the safety of the food, it can become fertilizer or animal feed instead — although this much sugar might give the pigs a stomach ache.
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