3082 Principles of waste minimisation in a food environment

Level 3  SCQF Level 7       SCQF Credit value 4

 

Unit Summary

This unit is about understanding the principles of waste minimisation in food manufacture or supply.  It includes understanding the causes of waste and measures that can be put in place to avoid and reduce waste. It also covers understanding the measures that can be used to manage unavoidable waste and the potential benefits that these measures offer in respect to achieving sustainability.

This unit applies to you if you are a manager, technologist or consultant who has responsibility for minimising waste in a food environment. It is expected that you will work as part of a team to develop and implement the systems.

 

In order to be assessed as competent you must demonstrate to your assessor that you can consistently perform to the requirements set out below.  Your performance evidence must include at least one observation by your assessor. 

 

Evidence of knowledge and understanding should be collected during observation of performance in the workplace. Where it cannot be collected by observing performance, other assessment methods should be used.

 

You need to know and understand:

1.            The legislation that controls an organisation’s waste policies and procedures

2.            The different types of waste and where and how they can legally be disposed of

3.            Waste management hierarchies

4.            Government targets and standards for waste reduction, reuse and recycling

5.            How the production of waste impacts on environmental issues such as climate change

6.            The impact of waste on sustainability

7.            How waste avoidance and minimisation supports sustainability 

8.            The benefits of waste minimisation to the organisation

9.            How waste minimisation can help reduce carbon emissions

10.          How and where waste is generated as a result of organisational activities

11.          How to establish current levels of waste for the different types of waste generated by the organisation across all organisational activities

12.          How to assess effectiveness of waste management systems

13.          The principles of waste benchmarking as a method of identifying opportunities for  reducing waste

14.          The factors that limit organisational recycling and reuse

15.          How process and product design can help avoid and minimise the generation of waste

16.          The opportunities available to an organisation for reducing waste

17.          How to develop targets for waste, reuse and recycling

18.          The barriers that can limit the impact of measures to minimise waste and how these barriers can be overcome

19.          How process and product design can impact on the production of waste

20.          How effective process control and quality assurance can support waste minimisation

21.          How to complete an organisational cost/benefit analysis in respect to waste

22.          Methods of promoting waste avoidance and minimisation

23.          How to monitor, control and maintain waste minimisation

24.          How to define and allocate roles and responsibilities for all those involved in reducing waste across all the activities undertaken by the organisation

25.          How to identify training needs and organise staff training to support waste minimisation

26.          How to evaluate the impact of measures to reduce waste

 

Evidence of performance may employ examples of the following assessment:

•             observation

•             written and oral questioning;

•             evidence from company systems (e.g. Food Safety Management System)

•             reviewing the outcomes of work

•             checking any records of documents completed

•             checking accounts of work that the candidate or others have written