Adopting the circular economy approach on food loss and waste: The case of Italian pasta production

Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) is one of the most serious social, economic and environmental issues undermining our planet’s sustainability, and by reducing it some UN Sustainable Development Goals may be achieved. The European Commission Circular Economy (CE) Package foresees FLW prevention, but to date few studies have adopted the CE perspective for analysing FLW. In 2017 only 20% of the world’s 50 largest food companies have established FLW reduction programs.However, reducing FLW is also beneficial for company economic sustainability since it was observed that for every dollar invested in reducing FLW there is a saving of 14 dollars in operating costs. Therefore, main aim of this research is to quantify the main FLW and their causes along the FSC of the pasta production and to understand if these FLW could be reused according to the CE approach.Based on a single case study analysis, for the first time, this study quantifies FLW along the pasta supply chain, emphasizing FLW valorisation from a CE perspective using the global Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard.Our results show that pasta supply chain is a good example of CE as little is lost. Food losses in the field are very limited (less than 2%), while the straw obtained during the harvest is normally used as animal feed and litter. The losses generated during the grinding of the wheat and pasta production amounted to approximately 2%. In line with previous literature, most FLW occurs during the cultivation and consumption, thus demonstrating that further research is required in order to reduce FLW in these two supply chain phases.