Introduction Video

Solution Video.mp4

By: Alexa Smith, Eren Cimentepe, Laurent Cousineau, Ubaid Ubaid

Summary

Problem Statement

Hospitals in Winnipeg produce over 395,000 kg of organic waste a year, and the carbon pollutant emitted when this organic waste is sent to landfills contributes to 4.6% of all carbon emissions yearly in Canada [1] [2]. Contrary to other Canadian cities like Toronto, Winnipeg does not have a city-wide compost collection program, meaning that the majority of this organic waste is sent to landfills [3]. As a team, we aim to analyze and reduce the amount of organic food waste sent to landfills by the 5 major hospitals in Winnipeg to increase the sustainability of their healthcare systems, ultimately improving the quality of life for their citizens.

Solution

To meet the desired design criteria, two main sources of food waste in hospitals must be targeted: pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. Pre-consumer waste includes food trimmings and expired or spoiled ingredients, while post-consumer waste refers to food that has been prepared but not consumed and subsequently discarded.

To address pre-consumer food waste, the team intends to implement LeanPath, a technology-enabled food tracking system. LeanPath specializes in monitoring prepared food by weight and reducing waste in large establishments through integrated hardware, software, and customer success programs. For post-consumer food waste, the team plans to encourage hospitals to partner with local farmers and food banks in Winnipeg, such as FortWhyte Farms and Harvest Winnipeg, respectively. Food scraps and trimmings left on plates can be collected and provided to FortWhyte farmers as livestock feed, while unserved food from hospital cafeterias can be donated to Harvest Winnipeg to support those facing food insecurities.

Practical Humility Clause

A lot of the estimates made in this report, like the sustainability and financial analyses, as well as the feasibility made use of data from other provinces. This is primarily due to the inaccessibility of Winnipeg and hospital-specific information. However, given more time, our team would reach out to more hospitals and try to get more information directly from them.

In terms of the proposed solution, it was assumed that the hospital and its partners would be able to get access to a truck to transport the organic waste to the dedicated farmers who have made the purchase.

Lastly, this report focuses on implementing the solution for one hospital in Winnipeg to start with a more feasible approach. However, it is designed such that given the success of the design, it will be extended to other 4 major, tertiary hospitals as well.

Detailed Explanation

This is the pdf of our detailed explanation, you can download or open the file by clicking the three dots.

This is the pdf of our detailed explanation, you can download or open the file by clicking the three dots.

Bibliography