Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Chiquita Brands International is making progress on its goal for zero fruit waste by 2020.
With “America Recycles Day” observed Nov. 15, the company announced its ongoing efforts to minimize food waste and promote its sustainability efforts.
“Bananas are the world’s fourth-most important food crop, making them essential food for millions of people all over the world,” Jamie Postell, director of sales for North America for Chiquita, said in a news release. “At Chiquita, we strive to reduce environmental pollution and food waste by finding ways to repurpose our unusold bananas.”
Those efforts include a purée plant in Costa Rica, where an average of 65,000 tons of unused bananas are converted into banana purée and flour each year, according to the release.
In addition, bruised bananas that don’t meet commercial standards are given to local farmers who use them to feed their animals.
With a machine called a biodigester, Chiquita is creating a type of fertilizer and also reducing the organic load that would typically be discarded into nearby lagoons, according to the release.
Inedible parts of the banana are left in the field as mulch and return organic matter to the soil, according to the release.
