Reducing our waste size

PurposeFood waste is one of the most challenging issues humanity is currently facing. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in the prevention of food waste because of world hunger, environmental impacts, resource scarcity and economic costs. The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that influence food waste and the role of technology in tackling food waste in India and the Netherlands.Design/methodology/approachIn order to explore differences in food loss and waste further this study will examine a number of practices on both the production and the consumer side, in a developing country and a developed country with different culture/economic backgrounds: India and the Netherlands. The factors that influence food waste were examined with a preliminary qualitative study, which consists of semi-structured interviews, and quantitative research that comprises a survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in both India and the Netherlands, which consists of five interviews. The survey data was collected from 78 individuals from India and 115 individuals from the Netherlands.FindingsOne of the main findings of the research is food waste is divided into waste within agricultural production (i.e. food loss) and final household consumption (i.e. food waste). Different factors influence food loss in different stages in the supply chain. Some of these factors include wastage during processing, storage, transportation and at the market-place. New technologies can utilize food loss for new purposes, so food loss is reduced to the minimum. Food waste is mainly influenced by food passing expiry date, food that is left too long in the fridge and consumers buying too much food. In final household consumption, technologies such as digital platforms enable individuals or organizations to share and donate their food, thereby creating awareness on food waste prevention and the environmental and ethical benefits.Originality/valueThe authors examine to what extent and in which ways supporting consumers to minimize food waste can be achieved via three stages: (1) understanding and evaluating food loss and waste, (2) identifying the factors that influence food loss and waste, (3) understanding consumer behaviors to encourage food waste reduction and (4) identifying the technological impact that would reduce food waste. As such, this paper contributes to ongoing debates about food waste by looking at the role of context and culture and by exploring differences between developed and developing countries. Also, the authors advance the debate by exploring both the role of advanced technology such as blockchain and drones in both preventing loss and waste as well as non-technological mechanisms.

This paper investigates food waste dynamics in a retail alternative food network (AFN). We provide a first contribution to assess food waste in an AFN in terms of 1) food waste levels, 2) food waste causes, and 3) food waste management practices (i.e. food waste reduction and handling). We use an exploratory case-study to investigate food waste in a Polish AFN. We place the results of this case-study in the context of conventional retail, by reviewing retail food waste literature. Quantitative results show that food waste levels at the AFN are very low compared to conventional retail literature. Qualitative results show that food waste causes at the AFN are partly shared with conventional retail, and partly specific to the AFN. Possible explanations for low food waste are provided by the food waste management strategies, in which food waste prevention is a key component of the AFN practices.Two other possible explanations are the degree of flexibility and the main drivers of the organization. Conventional retail is ruled by top-down policies, focusing on profit-maximization. The AFN we studied is small-scale, independently organized, and non-profit. Its main driver is to balance financial viability, accessibility and ethical guidelines. Looking beyond profit allows for a high concern with food waste, while the autonomy of the organization gives its members flexibility to develop ways to prevent and handle food waste. Future research can build on our approach of combining food waste estimations with qualitative investigation of food waste causes and management practices. Food waste dynamics should be further investigated in other (retail) AFNs, in small-scale conventional and organic food retail, and in small and large-scale cooperative supermarkets.

Integrating food loss and waste reduction policies with global dietary shifts: an economic modelling study.

Over recent years, the problem of food waste has been faced all around the world. Various reasons contribute to this, most of which are highly avoidable in nature. Ideally, it is the responsibility of every individual/institution to make every effort possible towards preventing food waste, but this study focussed only on the role of higher educational institutions. The overall aim of this project was to assess the practicalities of developing and implementing a food and packaging waste prevention programme in a university setting using the University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Manchester, Newcastle University and Small World Cafe (Oxford Road, Manchester) foodservices as case studies. The research involved carrying out face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the cooks, chefs, cafeteria managers and estate managers from all the participating institutions to collect qualitative data on the factors associated with food waste and the current food waste management practices at their facilities. The responses were thoroughly analysed to highlight the good practises and areas for improvement with regards to their food waste prevention and management practises. These findings included best practices and ideas for preventing pre- and post-consumer food waste along with suitable options for managing food waste in a university setting. These findings were then used to recommend a food waste prevention and management program.KeywordsUOS: University of SalfordMMU: Manchester metropolitan universityUOM: University Of ManchesterNU: Newcastle UniversitySWC: Small world cafe

Editorial and News

Food waste has been identified as one of the major factors that constitute numerous anthropogenic activities, especially in developing countries. There is a growing problem with food waste that affects every part of the waste management system, from collection to disposal; finding long-term solutions necessitates involving all participants in the food supply chain, from farmers and manufacturers to distributors and consumers. In addition to food waste management, maintaining food sustainability and security globally is crucial so that every individual, household, and nation can always get food. “End hunger, achieve food security and enhanced nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” are among the main challenges of global sustainable development (SDG) goal 2. Therefore, sustainable food waste management technology is needed. Recent attention has been focused on global food loss and waste. One-third of food produced for human use is wasted every year. Source reduction (i.e., limiting food losses and waste) and contemporary treatment technologies appear to be the most promising strategy for converting food waste into safe, nutritious, value-added feed products and achieving sustainability. Food waste is also employed in industrial processes for the production of biofuels or biopolymers. Biofuels mitigate the detrimental effects of fossil fuels. Identifying crop-producing zones, bioenergy cultivars, and management practices will enhance the natural environment and sustainable biochemical process. Traditional food waste reduction strategies are ineffective in lowering GHG emissions and food waste treatment. The main contribution of this study is an inventory of the theoretical and practical methods of prevention and minimization of food waste and losses. It identifies the trade-offs for food safety, sustainability, and security. Moreover, it investigates the impact of COVID-19 on food waste behavior.

Food waste is an inefficiency problem that needs to be reduced significantly to achieve a sustainable food system. Best practices and knowledge are available on how to reduce waste but large volumes of food are still wasted every year, so policies that support or enforce broader implementation of best practices are needed. One policy that could be used to push implementation and successful use of best practices to reduce food waste is the Swedish Environmental Code, which states that all actors must consider every possibility to reduce the amount of waste generated in any facility, unless this is unreasonably expensive. However, there is no clear definition on the actual waste reduction needed to comply with this requirement, so it is not enforced in practice. This study explored the potential gains of applying the Environmental Code, potential benchmarking thresholds for illegal levels of food waste and best voluntary practices that can achieve low levels of food waste. The Environmental Code is applicable to most operator food handling systems, and was assessed here using the Swedish public catering sector as a case. All 290 Swedish municipalities were asked to provide raw data for the study and some agreed, resulting in a dataset covering 458 public catering units serving care homes, schools and preschools. The data were analysed to identify different permissible levels of food waste, while the best canteens provided information on their best practices to keep food waste low. The results showed that with best voluntary practice for each type of catering unit, overall food waste would be reduced by up to 76 %. Best voluntary practices used by the best-performing canteens were identified as: ‘reusing buffet leftovers’, ‘adjusting recipes based on previous consumption’, ‘advising guests to start with small tasting portions’, ‘setting goals for waste reduction’ and ‘serving smaller volumes in buffet containers and refilling more often’. All these actions can realistically be implemented as standard practices by public catering organisations. The present analysis could not confirm that all these actions have actually been implemented, or to what extent, but practical implementation of identified best voluntary practices meeting stated benchmarks is recommended. The Environmental Code is technology-neutral and goal-oriented and participating food business operators are not forced by law or official regulations to introduce resource-saving measures, but this study shows that some measures can lead to a large reduction in food waste. The study does not show whether harsh, i.e. costly, measures can be enforced on businesses, which can only be determined by case law (court practice). However, in the specific cases in this study, measures that could have been enforced based on the Environmental Code would have led to at least 76 % reduction in food waste. This would be a major step towards a sustainable food system.

Upcycling to a circular food system

This report contains case studies of food loss and waste policy practices in Japan and the United Kingdom. The Japanese case study examines the goals, measurements, achievements and future challenges of the country’s food loss and waste policies. The Japanese government has implemented policies to suppress and recycle food loss and waste since 2000 under its Food Recycling Law. The control of food waste generation is based on a specific target for each industry group, in order to address differences in the scope for loss and waste reduction across sectors. While food waste in the food industry has been reduced, the waste at consumer stage has shown no change in recent years, highlighting outstanding challenges at the consumer stage. Preventing food waste has been a priority for Governments in the United Kingdom for over a decade, and a range of mechanisms have been put in place to deliver this within households, hospitality and food service, food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors. The UK case study outlines the policy context within which food waste prevention sits, explains how food waste is defined in the United Kingdom, provides detail on the level and types of food waste across different sectors, and describes the interventions adopted and their impacts. Between 2007 and 2012 household food waste reduced by 15%, despite a 4% increase in household numbers, and food waste at manufacture and retail fell by 10% between 2009 and 2012. There is significant potential to reduce food waste further, however it is likely that this will become increasingly challenging.

Preventing food waste is a major global challenge to the sustainability and security of the environment, society and economy. In response to that challenge, a plethora of initiatives addressing food waste have formed in recent years. These initiatives focus on aspects such as the efficiency of resource use, reduction of supply chain food waste, food donations and rescue, consumer behaviour, and above all, innovative ways to add value to food surplus and waste. What many initiatives have in common is that they mainly deal with food waste once it exists rather than preventing it from occurring in the first place, which might thwart efforts to increase long-term food systems sustainability. The idea of food waste prevention itself is beset by several conceptual paradoxes: it is considered the most preferred method to manage waste—which it was supposed to prevent in the first place, and it is an ambiguous ecological behaviour lacking the tangible characteristics of waste composting or recycling (i.e. prevention by its nature is invisible). Most importantly, food waste prevention, like other major sustainability challenges, appears to be in a fundamental conflict of interest with current economic norms and practices. In response to these dissonances of prevention and the inability of waste management to reduce the creation of food waste, researchers have proposed a number of new approaches, including the re-appraisal of food overproduction as a key cause of food waste. Accepting Mourad’s (Environ Soc Berkeley J Sociol 59:26–33, 2015) challenge to “think outside the bin”, this work proposes a “Prevention Paradox” framing as a conceptual link between the bodies of research on food overproduction and food waste prevention, offering a more holistic approach to this major sustainability challenge.

Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is a global commitment that includes a set of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. Food systems are at the heart of this agenda. SDG 12 seeks to 'ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns'. The third target under this goal, target 12.3, calls for reducing by half per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels, and reducing food losses along production and supply chains (including post-harvest losses) by 2030. SDG target 12.3 has the potential to embed prevention and reduction of food loss and waste in public and private sector strategies and to contribute to more sustainable diets and consumption patterns around the world. Food systems today are confronted with, among other issues, increasing non-communicable diseases linked to diets as well as socioeconomic and environmental concerns related to food waste. The macro- and micro-food environment within which consumers find themselves is multidimensional and they - alongside national governments and food supply chain stakeholders - can play a role in preventing and reducing food waste and contributing to sustainable diets. This chapter identifies six major challenges related to food waste prevention and reduction and sustainable food systems. Challenges range from recognition that the global food system is impacted by the attitudes and behaviours of local, national, regional and global food supply chain actors, to the definitions of food waste, measurement methodologies, data collection, and the need for agro-industry productivity and behavioural change thinking. A matrix policy analysis - based on a combination of initiatives at macro, meso and micro-level - is then recommended as a possible approach to successful food waste prevention and reduction.

Sustainably meeting the food demands of a growing population based on finite resources while protecting the environment is one of the great challenges of humanity in the coming decades. This dissertation combines three essays that examine how future patterns of global food consumption will affect human health, and how the food system changes driven by the ongoing global nutrition transition will affect the environment. The production of food needed to meet a growing population combined with changes in food consumption patterns are placing unprecedented levels of stress on the planet’s scarce natural resources. In this context, while the existing literature has mainly focused on increasing production, the magnitude of loss and waste is too large to be ignored. The first essay contributes to the literature by examining the linkages between consumers’ food waste at the national level on the one hand, and global food security and environmental health on the other hand. Absent significant behavioral changes or successful policy interventions, food waste will nearly double by 2050. Emerging economies are likely to play a key role in driving this growth in global food waste. Further findings indicate that the global benefits of food waste mitigation are greatly enhanced in the context of a more open international trade regime. Yet even as food loss and waste has been undernutrition and overweight/obesity levels have also been increasing. Together, these trends form a triple challenge for food security, global sustainability and human health. In the second essay I examine the role of the excessive calorie availability as an historical driver of adult BMI. I find that, in part driven by excess in calorie availability, individuals in more recent cohorts are overweight or obese earlier and for larger proportions of their lifespan than those in earlier cohorts. This highlights the potential for unintended health consequences of agricultural and trade policies directed at increasing calorie supplies. In the third essay I introduce a novel framework that extends the UN-FAO’s methodology for assessing undernutrition to also assess the extent of overconsumption and obesity. This framework allows for examination of the dynamics of the double burden of malnutrition between 2015 and 2050. Specifically, this framework shows how shifting towards healthier and more sustainable food consumption levels and reducing food waste could synergistically address multiple health and environmental burdens.

Conceptual framework for the study of food waste generation and prevention in the hospitality sector

Food waste is one of the major sustainability issues that need to be addressed due to its negative impacts on the economy, environment, and food security. To develop food waste reduction policies on regional and global level, it is mandatory to have a clear understanding of the various factors prompting food waste at household level and the extent of the economic losses incurred by food waste. Reducing food waste can decrease household expenditure on food, freeing resources for health, education, and well-being. The current study was aimed to (1) examine the food waste behavior of the respondents and to (2) determine the level of monetary losses from food waste. To address these objectives, a questionnaire survey and sample of food waste generated during 24 h were collected from 51 households in Tehsil Kahror Pakka, District Lodhran, Punjab, Pakistan. The survey focus was on levels of food waste and respondents' knowledge and behaviors about food waste. Economic estimation of food waste was also done. In the survey, respondents from both high- and low-income households revealed that their fruit and vegetables (31%; 32%) and peel and scrap (53%; 48%) losses were higher while egg losses (4%; 4%) were lower among various food waste categories. Wanting to eat fresh food and having no time to save food were the reasons for food waste. Monetary losses from food waste (US$ 12.8/Rs. 3677.01 per capita per annum) were higher in high-income households compared to low-income households.

Food waste mitigation is a critical means of addressing current and future economic, social and environmental concerns, to ensure enough food to feed the world’s growing population in a sustainable way. U.S. federal, state, and local governments have recognized the importance of food waste issues. A variety of policies associated with food waste management, food reduction, and food donation are set to allow and incentivize individuals, organizations and businesses to reduce their food waste. This study focuses on investigating current food waste prevention and diversion activities using data drawn from two U.S. waste reduction recognition programs, the U.S. Food Waste Challenge (FWC) and the EPA Food Recovery Challenge (FRC). Participants involved in these two programs follow the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy to prevent and divert their food waste. Descriptive statistics, crosstabs, and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that a majority of participants were in the food store category, and that Region 9 had the highest participation rate; the top three food waste prevention and diversion activities were food donation, source reduction, and collaboration/partnership. Different strategies used in different categories by FRC awardees were identified. The results of this study can be used to identify changes and strategies needed in practices, programs, and policies. The outcomes of the study provide a clear picture regarding what has been done and what needs to be done more in the future.