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We reduce food waste
The Agency for Facility Operations has long been committed to reducing food waste. The ultimate goal: Zero Waste!
How do we minimize waste?
- In our restaurants, you choose the amount of vegetables and starches you serve yourself. The result: 57% less food waste on plates and more satisfied customers.
- Guests clear their own plates, which raises awareness of leftovers that might otherwise be thrown away.
- With the introduction of coffee machines, coffee waste has been eliminated. In 2012, we still discarded 87,000 liters of coffee per year.
- Did you know that 1 in 8 sandwiches is wasted? Leftovers in meeting rooms are frequently monitored to help you order the right amount.
- Kitchen scraps may be preserved (by freezing or rapid cooling) to be reused later or incorporated into other products.
Take-home-leftovers
After closing time, employees can assemble a meal from leftover catering food for just €1. This helps reduce food waste and encourages conscious consumption. In the past six months of 2025, 3,781 ‘Take-home-leftovers’ were sold, totaling 1,679 kg. More information about Take-home-leftovers (in Dutch).
Kitchen scraps may be preserved (by freezing or rapid cooling) to be reused later or incorporated into other products.
Food monitoring
We have been measuring our food waste since 2012. Since then, we have systematically taken actions to reduce food waste—and with success! Our most recent measurement at the end of 2019 across our 10 restaurants shows that waste per serving decreased from 65 g in 2014 and 50 g in 2018 to 37 g in 2019. This represents a reduction of no less than 26% in just one year.
In 2025, a baseline measurement will be conducted using a tool developed by the Agency for Facility Operations The first measurement will take place in September 2025.
During an internally organized measurement, the following items are tracked:
Sandwiches in restaurants and coffee bars
Soup
Daily specials
Catering at meetings
This project contributes to the following SDG's
