Towards a Baseline for Food-Waste Quantification in the Hospitality Sector—Quantities and Data Processing Criteria

Christopher Malefors,Oona Pietiläinen,Ingrid Strid,Per-Anders Hansson,Mattias Eriksson,Hanna Hartikainen,Pieter Callewaert,Christina Strotmann

doi:10.3390/su11133541

Abstract

There is an urgent need for primary data collection on food waste to obtain solid quantification data that can be used as an indicator in the goal of halving food waste by 2030. This study examined how quality baselines for food waste can be achieved within the different segments of the hospitality sector, encompassing establishments such as canteens, elderly care units, hospitals, hotels, preschools, primary schools, restaurants, and upper secondary schools. The empirical material comprised food-waste quantification data measured in 1189 kitchens in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Germany for 58,812 quantification days and 23 million portions. All the data were converted to a common format for analysis. According to the findings, around 20% of food served became waste. Waste per portion varied widely between establishments, ranging from 50.1 ± 9.4 g/portion for canteens to 192 ± 30 g/portion for restaurants. To identify the measurement precision needed for tracking changes over time, we suggest statistical measures that could be used in future studies or in different food-waste tracking initiatives.

Highlights

Issues relating to food waste have attracted significant attention in recent years, but there seems to be no obvious all-round solution for dealing with these issues
The profit sub-sector consists of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, cafés, canteens, catering, convenience stores, and pubs/bars (Horeca), while the cost sub-sector consists of businesses where providing hospitality services is not the main focus and where the aim is not to maximize profit, such as catering and accommodation services within schools, universities, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, military facilities, staff canteens, etc
This study focuses on restaurants, hotels, canteens, and catering units in schools, universities, hospitals, nursing homes, and companies, across the profit and cost sub-sectors within the hospitality sector

Summary

Introduction

Issues relating to food waste have attracted significant attention in recent years, but there seems to be no obvious all-round solution for dealing with these issues. It is estimated that one third of the food produced for human consumption, corresponding to roughly 1.3 billion tons per year, is wasted at some point. These vast volumes have a significant environmental impact, since resources such as land, water, and energy associated with the different stages of food production and supply chain are used in vain. There is a suggestion that the ambition set by UN is not strict enough and that further food-waste reductions need to be achieved in order to keep the planet within the planetary boundaries and counter climate change [7]

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion