A Practice Greenhealth Case Study
“If you can do something to reduce the waste, you’re doing the right thing for the environment, you’re saving money, and you’re doing something that’s socially responsible. It’s a win-win-win all the way around.” – Tom Thompson.
- Gundersen Health Systems' baseline revealed they were throwing out an average of half a ton of food every week — approximately 24 tons every year.
- They used a technology-enabled tracking system to weigh and track pre-consumer waste. The data helped them discover and implement strategies to reduce food waste.
- The health system achieved a 50% food waste reduction and savings of $25,000 per year.
The challenge
Food and nutrition and sustainability leaders identified a significant opportunity to reduce pre-consumer food waste, to both lower the organization’s carbon footprint and save money on food purchases. One of the key initiatives of the program is waste management and control. They evaluated their options and determined that the LeanPath Food Waste Tracking System would transform their food waste prevention vision into reality.
The solution
“The staff saw instant results—they could see the ups, the downs, the gains...they could see they were making a difference.” – Tom Thompson, Sustainability Coordinator
Gundersen’s staff started weighing every pre-consumer food waste item which allowed them to calculate a food waste baseline. They implemented the LeanPath Tracker (an automated scale and touch-screen terminal) in their kitchen and trained every staff member on how to use it. They found that they were throwing out an average of half a ton of food every week — approximately 24 tons every year. They saw this as a huge opportunity to tackle the waste issue head on.
How Practice Greenhealth can help accelerate your food waste goalsHealth care is joining organizations across the country in the goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.Our guidance and strategic planning, which aligns with the EPA food recovery hierarchy and evolving state and federal regulations, guides you through each strategy from source reduction to food donation to recycling, and will help you make a plan for achieving your waste reduction goals. |
Simple changes, big impact
“With the software, we can look at what happened one week vs. another and look at what our strategy is to reduce it the next time around. We download data every Monday morning and print out reports so everyone knows how we did for the last week.” – Thomas Sacksteder program manager and executive chef
They continued tracking food waste daily and reviewed the dashboard reports from the integrated LeanPath software each week. They immediately spotted some key opportunities to reduce waste. The staff made changes to how vegetables were prepared to encourage less scrap waste, started heating soup in smaller portions, and made many other simple changes that had a dramatic impact on food waste reduction.
Creating a “food-waste-fighting” culture
From the part-time college student workers to experienced staff that had been employed for more than 30 years – the program boosted team morale and engagement. With the LeanPath system, all members of the team could feel ownership in the program and see their contributions.
The results
- Gundersen reduced its pre-consumer food waste by more than 50% by weight.
- From 2010 through 2015, they reduced food waste by more than 80% from baseline, saving more than $30,000/year.
- Gundersen saw a complete return on investment in less than 10 months
Between July 2010 and February 2011 (just seven months), Gundersen reduced its pre-consumer food waste by more than 50% by weight. The savings in diverted food purchases equated to $475/week or $25,000/year. From 2010 through 2015, they reduced food waste by more than 80% from baseline, saving more than $30,000/year. Gundersen saw a complete return on investment in less than 10 months and they continue to experience
ongoing savings using the LeanPath system.
“If you can do something to reduce the waste, you’re doing the right thing for the environment, you’re saving money, and you’re doing something that’s socially responsible. It’s a win-win-win all the way around.” – Tom Thompson.
About Gundersen Health System
Gundersen Health System is a physician-led, not-for profit healthcare system. It has a 22-county service area throughout western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. The system includes a regional referral center with 6 affiliate hospitals, a teaching hospital with 325 beds and Level II Trauma Center, a 30-bed Inpatient Behavioral Health center, and the Western Academic Campus for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health. Gundersen is consistently ranked among America's Top Hospitals for Quality and Patient Satisfaction. It is the first health system to offset 100% of fossil fuel energy use through locally generated energy and the No. 1 employer in La Crosse County, Wis.
