Luxury hotel uses innovative methods to eliminate wasted food: 'The long-term goal is to be fully self-sufficient'

The Lodge at Ashford Castle is a 19th-century villa in County Mayo, western Ireland.

It features 64 guest rooms and sweeping views of the countryside — but it's gaining special attention for the way it rethinks what happens to food before, during, and after it reaches the plate, according to Travel and Tour World.

Part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, The Lodge's mission is to cut food waste, executive chef Jonathan Keane told the outlet. For Keane, every onion peel and bread crust is an opportunity for reuse. He said: "Now it's about what kind of legacy we leave behind."

Sustainability is a major issue in hospitality, with hotels and restaurants producing more than 25 percent of the world's food waste, according to the United Nations. Much of it ends up in landfills, where it releases methane, a greenhouse gas.

The Lodge's team views this as a human and environmental challenge, reported TTW. Reducing waste keeps food costs down and can help improve access to fresh food for people facing food insecurity — a situation facing as many as one in 10 Americans.

To tackle it, they use kitchen creativity combined with high-tech tools. The hotel works with UK-based Winnow to track waste with an AI-powered system that photographs and records all discarded items. Keane receives a daily email showing what was binned — even down to two kilograms of onion skins — so the team can find a use for it next time.

It means chefs can turn scraps into canapés, sauces, and even welcome drinks for guests. A biodigester turns remaining organic matter into nutrient-rich compost, which is then used in The Lodge's gardens, per TTW.

Vojtech Végh of Winnow said: "Once we start measuring food waste, we can then focus on what exactly we need to reduce."

The tracking has paid dividends. In a year, The Lodge cut its food waste by nearly 60 percent, stopping 230,000 pounds of food from going to landfill. The effort also helped cut its carbon footprint by almost 50 tons, and saved more than €16,000 ($18,561) annually, per TTW.

Households can see similar benefits by cutting food waste, such as savings on groceries, less waste to process, and more fresh food for local communities. Guides such as how to do more with your leftovers and how to keep your food fresh longer offer practical ways to start.

If you compost your food scraps, what's your primary motivation? Improving my garden's soil 🌱 Saving money on fertilizer 💰 Helping the planet 🌎 I don't compost 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, putting food in landfills creates serious climate concerns.

"More than 85 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from landfilled food waste result from activities prior to disposal, including production, transport, processing, and distribution," the organization said.

For The Lodge, there are more ambitious plans in the pipeline. Next, the team wants to add a tunnel greenhouse, a distillery with an orchard, and an aquaponics system, per TTW. "The long-term goal is to be fully self-sufficient," Keane said.

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