Food Waste App Redirects Thousands of Meals to Icelandic Households

2026-03-28 - 14:42

An Icelandic app designed to cut food waste helped redirect tens of thousands of meals from disposal to consumers last year, according to its developers. As reported by RÚV, the app, Humble, enabled businesses to sell surplus goods nearing the end of their shelf life at reduced prices. What's the Story? Around 31 tonnes of food, equal to about 70,000 meals, redistributed in Iceland last year via the Humble app Platform used by approximately 32,000 people and around 90 participating outlets Iceland generated about 60,000 tonnes of food waste annually, based on 2022 data Photo: Reykjavíkurborg Reducing food waste Around 31 tonnes of food—equivalent to roughly 70,000 meals—was redistributed by the company in 2024, based on internal data. “Businesses can post products that are on their last rotation,” said Hlynur Rafn Guðmundsson, co-founder of Humble. Items, including baked goods, prepared meals and supermarket products, are typically sold at about half price through around 90 participating outlets. “It’s boring to throw food in the trash. Then there’s a lot of cost involved in throwing it in the trash, there’s a lot of lost revenue. So the companies get money for what would otherwise have ended up as waste,” he said. “And then there are opportunities in the trash.” The platform was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic and has since grown to around 32,000 users in Iceland. Cafeterias at several large workplaces have also begun offering leftover meals to staff through the app. Food waste in Iceland was last measured in 2022 at approximately 60,000 tonnes annually, with around half attributed to households, restaurants and retailers.