Variability in commercial and institutional food waste generation and implications for sustainable management systems

Abstract

Disposing food waste in landfills leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and lost economic and environmental resources, motivating the need for alternative treatment processes to convert waste to energy and value-added products. Developing the networks and infrastructure required to make these processes economically viable depends on high quality information about the volume and characteristics of food waste requiring treatment. Traditionally, food waste generation estimates have come from limited empirical studies and theoretical tools that predict the volume of food waste that will result from different types and intensities of economic activity. Resulting estimations are quick and don’t require extensive investment to collect, but only provide single, static snapshots of expected waste generation. In reality, however, food waste would vary depending on the season, geography, and type and magnitude of the waste generating activity. This study provides an analysis of this potential variability using empirical data from commercial and institutional food waste generators in New York State and a publicly available database of food waste estimates. Results show that 57 % of food waste generated within the region comes from only 4 % of commercial facilities. Moreover, statewide generation varies monthly by approximately 37 % and significantly across different regions due to concentrations of facility locations. Study findings underscore how policy or facility siting decisions based on a single, static food waste estimation may not capture the full complexity of food waste management. Future work can improve common estimation approaches and methods for collecting empirical data to support robust policy.