Socio Economy Impact in Relation to Waste Prevention

Abstract

Globally waste is driven by population and economic growth, and urbanization. One important instrument to meet this increasing demand and to decrease the pressure on food production is to minimize food loss, food waste, green waste, recycling waste and other wastes etc. It has been estimated that globally one third of the edible parts of food destined for human consumption is lost or wasted each year. Much of the waste that comes from high-income countries has been attributed to poor marketing practices and consumer behaviour, with consumers being identified as a bigger contributor than food manufacturing, distribution, grocery retail and the hospitality sectors. There are environmental as well as socio-economic, financial and legal reasons for being concerned about waste prevention which are: (i) Environmental reasons: Municipal waste is merely the final evidence of consumption which entails environmental footprints which are rarely sustainable; (ii) Socio-economic reasons: Production of waste appears to be the result of wasting natural resources and these resources are both limited and unequally distributed; (iii) Financial reasons: Reducing the quantities of waste produced means it should be possible to reduce the budget required for the collection, transportation and treatment of waste products; (iv) Legal reasons: The European framework directive on waste requires national waste prevention programmes to be drawn up. Waste prevention is performed in the privacy of our own home and is personal as it is driven by deeply held beliefs and attitudes rather than social norms.