A Conceptual Framework for Food Loss and Waste in Agri-Food Supply Chains: Circular Economy Perspective

Abstract

The importance given to Circular Economy (CE) has further increased in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) to combat the challenges of food loss and waste which could be caused by various reasons, such as poor stock management, economic behavior and also, the occurrence of COVID-19 outbreak. The transition from linear to circularity can also enable competitive sustainability from farm to fork in AFSC, which consists of different stages: farmers, food processors, food distributors, food retailers, consumers. Food loss mainly occurs in AFSC at near-farm stages (i.e., harvesting, processing) while food waste happens in AFSC at near-fork stages (i.e., retail, post-consumption). Thus, 6Rs (remanufacture, redesign, reduce, recycle, reuse, and recover) of CE principles can offer various benefits to close the loop of the wastages along with the AFSC. In this chapter, a conceptual framework for circularity in the AFSC is proposed considering the 6Rs. Furthermore, this framework also supports the Sustainable Development Goals. The applicability of the proposed framework is examined and discussed in the case of Turkey using SWOT Analysis. Key findings indicate that there is confusion about food loss and waste issues in Turkey. In addition, the solutions and developments for FLW problem are generally focused on food waste.