Food waste leads to waste of precious resources including water, land, energy, labour and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change.

Environmentalists say that when food rots, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas, which the U.S. EPA says is 21 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide. Food is the least recycled material and is second largest contributor to global warming.

Dubai Municipality recently launched the second phase of its campaign "Recover the Value of Your Waste" at LuLu Hypermarket, Al Barsha. Residents can now bring recyclable waste for exchange into coupons to buy food products.

Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al Saifaie, director of the Waste Management Department, said the first phase of this campaign collected two tonnes of household waste from the public.

"This quantity emphasizes the public's positive interaction with the department's initiatives and the enhanced awareness on maintaining cleanliness of Dubai and its neighborhoods," he said. The first phase was launched at the Emirates Cooperative Society in Al Twar 3. This action plan is likely to be implemented throughout the year in different areas of the emirate.

This campaign spreads awareness not only on the importance of recycling non-perishables but also on reducing food waste. The campaign aims to promote sustainable development through interaction of all segments of the society with environmental issues and challenges. The campaign also addresses waste segregation at source to establish a culture of sorting waste from the source to maximize the recycling and avoid sending them into landfills. This will help Dubai in progressing its Integrated Waste Management Strategy.

The most important requirement of any household waste recycling is segregating food and perishable waste from other waste. Often the mixing of such waste makes it very hard or environmentally and economically unfeasible to recycle the waste.