Household Food Waste Research Articles

Household Food Waste Behavior in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and Its Potential in the Circular Economy

Food waste is a problem that has resulted in a variety of situations in which it is one of the primary causes of food insecurity. Changes in household behaviors, such as overbuying, are important drivers of food waste, particularly following the emergence of COVID-19. Studies on what drives household consumer engagement in various food-waste strategies have been limited. Thus, this paper aims to study the factors that lead to food-waste behavior at the household level in the Klang Valley area. Out of the 431 questionnaires distributed, 404 were useful, and the respondents for this study were from various ethnicities. A quantitative design was employed in this study, with descriptive and inference statistics derived from the questionnaire, which was distributed via Google Forms. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 26.0 and Smart PLS version 3.0, to test the reliability, validity, and hypotheses of this study. A significant relationship exists between food-waste behavior, namely food expenditure, and waste reuse, but food-waste behavior has no relationship with food choice. The study’s conclusions highlight the significance of understanding and planning one’s food-buying behaviors, to achieve benefits additional to simply lowering the number of those who are at risk of being hungry. The study also found that male respondents wasted more food than their female counterparts.

Can household storage conditions reduce food waste and environmental impact? A broccoli case study

The consumption stage has been identified as the largest producer of food waste (FW) across the food supply chain (FSC), with fruit and vegetables being the most affected product category. The present study aims to determine the optimal storage scenario at household level to avoid food waste and which has the lowest environmental footprint. Broccoli was stored under different storage conditions: unbagged or bagged (periodically opened) in bioplastic bags inside a domestic refrigerator at 5 or 7 °C for 34 days and then analysed for relative humidity (RH), sensory properties and bioactive compounds. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental profile of 1 kg of broccoli purchased by the consumer (cradle-to-grave). At day 0 (base scenario) the carbon footprint was 0.81 kg CO2 eq/kg, with the vegetable farming being the main contributor to this environmental impact, mostly driven by fertiliser (production and its emissions to air and water) and irrigation (due to electricity consumption for water pumping). Quality and food waste depended on time and storage conditions: For short storage times, within three days, the best quality combined with the lowest environmental footprint was for unbagged broccoli at 7 °C and no household food waste. However, this scenario had the highest food waste level from day 3 onwards, with increased resource loss and overall environmental footprint. For long-term storage, using a bag and storing at 5 °C helped to reduce food waste with the lowest environmental footprint. For example, at 16 days, this scenario (bagged at 5 °C) could save 4.63 kg/FU of broccoli and 3.16 kg CO2 eq/FU compared to the worst scenario (unbagged at 7 °C). Consumers are the key to reducing household food waste and this research provides the knowledge for improvement.

Identifying determinants of household food waste behavior in urban India

Food waste is an unresolved problem for the developed world economies and is slowly creeping into the growing urban areas of the developing nations. The study aims to find the determinants of household food waste behavior in the national capital region of India. It uses a structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data from 372 urban households to explore the relationship between household food waste behavior with the latent variables namely, financial consciousness, food consumption management, intention to avoid food waste and COVID-19 impact. Our results show that households which show good food consumption management practices reported lesser household food wastage. Furthermore, it is observed COVID-19 positively impacted the food consumption management of households. The need is for raising awareness and imparting knowledge on how to improve food consumption management practices of the rapidly rising urban population of developing economies to prevent food wastage at the household level.

Enhanced lactic acid production by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 7469 through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation from household food waste

AbstractA large amount of household food waste (HFW) is generated yearly and may negatively impact the environment and human health. The recovery of value‐added chemicals lactic acid (LA) from HFW through anaerobic treatment is a promising approach. However, it remains a challenge to increase the LA yield. In this paper, the LA production from HFW was enhanced by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 7469 through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The results showed that the mixed commercial enzymes of plant enzymes (E1), animal proteases (E2), and glucoamylase (E3) were more conducive to LA production than those used separately. Compared to the separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), the LA production increased by 14% in the SSF, and the glucose concentration showed different change rules. Additionally, an average LA concentration of 47.7 g L–1 was obtained by repeated batch fermentation through SSF. However, the maximum LA concentration decreased with the fermentation ongoing. The trend of decreasing LA production could be improved by repeated batch fermentation with supplementary inoculation.

Transdisciplinary approaches to graduate student training for food–energy–water challenges

AbstractSystems‐level approaches are required for addressing the world's major challenges at the food–energy–water nexus. Taking on complex issues, such as rising food insecurity, malnutrition, and food waste, concomitant with unprecedented levels of stress on environmental systems, will necessitate that future scholars and decision makers be prepared through transdisciplinary student training. However, in higher education, students tend to be siloed within their discipline. In this study, we present a case for the development of transdisciplinary graduate student training based on an inter‐institutional and fully remote group of graduate students who assembled during the COVID‐19 pandemic to address the issue of food waste. We use our wide‐ranging disciplinary backgrounds, high‐performance transdisciplinary team training, and stakeholder feedback to develop and conduct a weeklong social media campaign to share educational resources for reducing household food waste. This work offers valuable lessons learned through the student's lens to those seeking to create or improve future transdisciplinary training methods for tackling food waste and other global grand challenges. Key insights from this process include the importance of accountability and open communication when conducting collaborative teamwork, the utility of various mobile and online tools for effectively facilitating remote group work, and the vital role of transdisciplinarity in devising creative solutions.

A Study on household food waste management and composting practice

Food waste had been such an alarming issue, not only in Malaysia, but throughout the world. Composting is an environmentally friendly way to reduce food waste by using a less costly and less time of the system. Composting is considered the most common method used to compost by having organic materials and water only. This study aims to identify the level of awareness among respondents about food waste composting and to assess the effectiveness of composting method at home basis. An online survey and experimental work were conducted. The online survey was conducted among the population in Taman Seri Tanjung, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Quantitative analysis from the online survey showed that respondents had awareness of the advantages of composting. While, 29-day observation during food waste composting show pH and temperature were recorded as in the range of 29°C to 40°C and 5 to 7 respectively. The result from this study shows promising findings on the effectiveness of the composting method. The findings from this study will enhance the understanding and awareness of the public on the importance of composting at the household level.

Extended exergy accounting theory to design waste-to-energy management system under uncertainty

This paper seeks to study the waste-to-energy facility location planning problems under uncertainty from an integrated perspective. The extended exergy accounting method is first used to develop a multi-criteria decision analysis framework that unique in unifying multiple criteria of material, energy, social, economic and environmental aspects into homogeneous exergy terms, thus employing multiple criteria to obtain an integrated decision-making result.Robust optimization and mixed-integer linear programming mathematical techniques are applied to formulate the problem as a two-stage robust waste-to-energy facilities location model based on this framework to minimize the exergy expenditure, and determine the technology type, location and capacity size of waste-to-energy facilities over a large urban region. The uncertainty of municipal solid waste supply quantity in each waste generation site is considered.The proposed model was demonstrated using a case study for household food waste treatment in Shanghai, and two treatment scenarios are proposed. Under the same uncertainty, the deployment strategy in scenario II feeds annual 2,655,140 GJ more equivalent primary exergy into the urban ecosystem than the scenario I, indicating that the only deployed on-site biogas plant to disposal household food waste performs better than the centralized incineration and on-site biogas plant combined deployment.A further sensitivity analysis reveals several valuable insights into municipal solid waste management. If the uncertainty is not considered, it may result in a municipal solid waste treatment capacity gap of up to 11.5% and a waste-to-energy system breakdown. Introducing the uncertain budget and range can help the decision-maker adjust the planning scheme flexibly, but the results become more conservative as their values increase. In this case study, it is optimal for decision makers to choose uncertain range mˆi=12.5% and uncertain budget Γ=30.

ANTECEDENTS AND BARRIERS TO SUSTAINABLE FOOD WASTE PRACTICES AMONG LOWER-MIDDLE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN MALAYSIA

Given the significant amount of food waste generated by households, reducing household food waste is critical to mitigating overall food waste and providing multifaceted benefits for humans and the environment. This study attempts to identify antecedents of food waste among lower-middle-class families in the Malaysian household setting and their barriers to sustainable food waste practices. Fifteen individuals from lower-middleclass Malaysian households were selected by convenience and snowball sampling and were interviewed using semi-structured questions. Four categories of food waste antecedents were identified (over-preparing, over-buying, dietary transition, and improper storage). The findings also led to the development of four themes that defined the barriers participants faced to minimising food waste (inadequate regulations and policy, lack of time, lack of education and awareness on food wastage, and lack of appropriate facilities). The findings from this study have important sociocultural implications for future studies, and they also add to our current understanding and application of how to reduce food waste in Malaysian households. More study is needed to find ways to test new ideas and interventions that could reduce household food waste, especially in Malaysia.

Will healthy diets increase household food waste?

With rapid changes in Chinese society, people’s health awareness is also increasing fast, and diets have transitioned from the pursuit of “filling up” to “being well-fed” to today’s “eating reasonably and healthily.” How does this change in healthy diet awareness affect household food waste? Based on a theoretical analysis of the relationship between healthy eating awareness and household food waste, this study uses data from the China Health and Nutritional Survey (CHNS) to further investigate the issue. This study is the first to view household food waste from the perspective of healthy diet awareness and propose a theoretical framework of the effects of healthy diet awareness. The results show that greater awareness of what constitutes a healthy diet can significantly reduce household food waste. Household size, family population structure, income, and the employment status of the household’s main female member are important explanatory variables. We believe government support for advocating and publicizing healthy diets will help reduce household food waste.

Increasing the organic loading rate of household food waste anaerobic digestion by landfill leachate addition: Performance and mechanism

A high amount of easily degradable organics and the absence of trace metals (TMs) in household food waste (HFW) lowered the stability and efficiency of anaerobic digestion (AD) of HFW. Leachate addition to the AD of HFW can provide ammonia nitrogen and TMs to address the accumulation of volatile fatty acids and the lack of TMs. To study the effect of leachate addition on increasing organic loading rate (OLR), both mono-digestion of HFW and AD of HFW with leachate addition were evaluated using two continuously stirred tank reactors. The OLR of the mono-digestion reactor only reached 2.5 g COD/L/d. However, with the addition of ammonia nitrogen and TMs, the OLR of the failed mono-digestion reactor increased by 2 and 3.5 g COD/L/d, respectively. The specific methanogenic activity increased by 94.4% and the hydrolysis efficiency increased by 135%. Finally, the OLR of mono-digestion of HFW reached 8 g COD/L/d, with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 days and methane production rate of 2.4 L/L/d. In the leachate addition reactor, the OLR reached 15 g COD/L/d, while the HRT and methane production were 7 days and 3.4 L/L/d, respectively. This study demonstrates that leachate addition substantially improves the AD efficiency of HFW. The two main mechanisms of increasing the OLR of an AD reactor are the buffer capacity of ammonia nitrogen and the stimulation of methanogen by TMs from leachate.

Drivers of divergent industry and consumer food waste behaviors: The case of reclosable and resealable packaging

Optimizing packaging to align with consumers' food management needs can improve packaging's potential to reduce household food waste, important for a sustainable food system. This paper provides actionable insights to support the food/beverage–packaging industry, policymakers, and researchers to better understand the factors impeding industry implementation of packaging aligned to consumer needs and the potential flow-on effects on household food waste. To facilitate understanding, a consumer-industry grounded model is presented based in the Australian context, developed through qualitative research using the Gioia method to examine reclosable/resealable packaging, food storage, and household food waste.The results indicate that divergent packaging priorities and needs in industry and consumers impede food waste reduction. Industry concerns for business viability mean prioritizing features to sell products, hence consumer needs are secondary. Consumer needs are framed by individual task goals for managing food storage and the availability of supporting resources, including appropriate packaging. Suggestions to help align consumer and industry priorities include increased industry–consumer communication to better help industry understand consumer needs and validating product-packaging with consumers.

Retail food environment and household food waste: An empirical study

We examine the relationship between the retail food environment for individual households and household food waste. Conceptually the relationship is ambiguous and depends on how store access interacts with frequency, size, and the composition of food purchases. We use FoodAPS data to estimate the relationship between store proximity and household food waste. We measure this relationship for different retail food store formats and also investigate heterogeneity and mediating factors. We find that a 1% increase in the distance to the nearest small food store is associated with 0.02% more food waste among all households. A 1% increase in the distance to the nearest large food store – such as supermarkets and grocery stores – is associated with 0.05% more food waste among households in poverty, with larger associations among households without cars. We find that shopping frequency and size do not mediate the relationship between large food store proximity and food waste, but we find differences over the amount of fresh foods purchased on the average shopping trip. Among households that purchase large amounts of fresh foods per trip, greater distance to a large food store is substantially associated with more food waste. Our results contribute to policy discussions surrounding food waste as well as food access.

Efecto del COVID-19 en el desperdicio de alimentos en los hogares de la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador

In Ecuador, before the start of the global pandemic, 939 metric tons of food were wasted per year, whichis equivalent to a loss of 332 million dollars per year. Thus, the present investigation tries to examine theeffect of COVID-19 on food waste in households in the city of Loja during the pandemic. For this analysis,the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equations (PLS-SEM) wereused. The results obtained show that social norms, environmental awareness and COVID-19 have significantvalues and affect food waste in households in the city of Loja. Accordingly, if consumer behavior andhabits had changed before the pandemic, food waste would have decreased. Therefore, it is important topromote food donation campaigns to the most needy people and, on the other hand, make a shoppinglist and create a meal plan to buy and prepare the necessary food and mitigate food waste in the city. from Loja.

Household food waste trending upwards in the United States: Insights from a National Tracking Survey

AbstractThree successive administrations have supported the United States' 2015 goal to reduce food waste. Households waste more food than other supply chain segments, however, few data sources are available to track US households' progress toward this goal. We provide insights from the first four waves of a novel national survey designed to track such waste. We find a 280% year‐over‐year increase in self‐reported waste between early 2021 and early 2022, which militates against national goal achievement. We find households wasted more food during weeks they dined out and that sample households dined out significantly more in 2022 than in 2021.

Needs to Change Behaviour in Households Producing Lots of Food Waste

The purpose of this research was to investigate avoidable food waste among households of students studying in higher education in Sein¨ajoki. The focus was to quantify the avoidable food waste in different-sized households. The focus was also to specify food categories wasted, and the main reasons for avoidable food waste accumulated. The participating households weighed all their food waste during the one-week monitoring period recording the data on an Excel spreadsheet. The university students taking part in the study were introduced to the work by video instruction. In total 421 households with 918 persons took part in this study. It was found that the average amount of avoidable food waste was equal to 25.2 kg/person/year. In single person households, the amount was 36.6 kg/year. The amount for households with five or more persons was 80.0 kg/household i.e. 14.1 kg/person. This research showed that 25 % of the households caused 56 % of the avoidable food waste, which means that main efforts should be targeted to this ’heavy wasting’ group. One way of improving the good practices would be to share good habits related to lowering food waste among university students through peer learning. This study is aimed to awaken the ’heavy wasting’ university student to change their attitude and behaviour.

Analisa Nutrisi Pakan Ayam Kampung Berbahan Baku Jagung dan Dedak

Local breed chicken is a type of chicken that is widely raised by rural communities. Local breed chicken feed is still limited to household food waste or left free to find food independently. Some are given additional feed in the form of corn or bran but without proper nutritional calculations. The right calculation on feeding will increase growth and the productivity of chickens. The additional feeds commonly used for the manufacture of local breed chicken feed are corn and rice bran which are available quite a lot and the prices are relatively cheap. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate native chicken feed formulation. Five chicken feed formulations were made with the basic ingredients of corn and morning bran. The method used in this study was descriptive exploratory, the results of the feed formulation obtained from the research results were compared with SNI for broiler feed (SNI 01-3931-2006) and laying hens (SNI 01-3929-2006) because there was no standard feed for local breed chickens. village. The formulation results were tested for nutritional content including moisture, ash, protein, fat, and also crude fiber content. Based on the test results, it was found that the formulation of free-range chicken feed according to the SNI standards for broiler and layer chicken feed was the P2 formulation, with a ratio of 30 grams of corn and 24 grams of rice bran.

Characterization of household food waste in Italy: Three year comparative assessment and evaluation of seasonality effects

In the present paper, the results of the first comparative assessment of household food waste in Italy are reported with a timeframe of three years coupled with an evaluation of seasonality effects. To pursue the aim of Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve consumer food waste by 2030, the Italian Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery and Waste carried out two surveys in 2021 (July and November) to characterize household food waste and to evaluate the seasonality effects. Data were collected with a validated questionnaire. For monitoring purposes, data collected in July 2021 were compared with those collected in July 2018. In three years, waste increased from 187.2 to 203.8 g per capita per week (p = 0.00). Fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables, bread, milk, yogurt, and non-alcoholic beverages, were the most wasted. In July the level of waste was higher for fruit (p = 0.00) while in November was higher for potato products (p = 0.04), pasta (p = 0.00), rice (p = 0.04), legumes (p = 0.01), and soups (p = 0.04). Data collected in July 2021 showed that retired people (p = 0.04), families with children (p = 0.01), particularly young children (9–13 years old) (p = 0.02), wasted less while who live in large town areas (p = 0.00), people with self-perceived limited monetary resources (p = 0.01) and mono-component families (p = 0.00) wasted more. The findings of the present work showed that there are specific population groups that wasted more with a gap between the intentions and the actions. The present data have a particular value posing the roots for the establishment of a food waste surveillance system in Italy.

It is just wrong: Moral foundations and food waste

Household food waste is one of the major obstacles to meeting global emission targets. Yet, it seems that we still do not fully understand why some people are more driven than others in their engagement to reduce household food waste. Here, we take a new perspective and examine (a) the perceived morality of food waste as a driver for food waste behavior and (b) whether interventions that associate food waste with either the moral foundation of harm or disgust can increase both intentions to reduce food waste and to engage more in future meal planning. Across two study phases (N = 698 and 446; respectively), we found support for our hypothesis that the belief that food waste is morally wrong is negatively associated with self-reported food waste. Moreover, we found that a harm manipulation, relative to a disgust manipulation and a control condition, increased participants’ intention to reduce food waste and future meal planning intentions via food waste moral judgment, but only for those individuals who were at mean or higher values on the care foundation. A disgust manipulation, in contrast, compared to a harm manipulation, directly elicited stronger intentions to reduce food waste and to plan meals, but again only for those who endorsed the associated purity foundation. Our findings suggest different cognitive mechanisms for individuals who ground their morality in the care and the purity foundations and thus have several implications for practice and future research.

Household food waste in domestic gatherings – the negotiation between social and moral duties

PurposeThe paper investigates household food waste at domestic gatherings. It explains how surplus food and food waste are generated, managed and disposed of at gatherings hosted in homes. It reveals how hosts negotiate their social duties to be generous and moral duties to avoid food waste.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-eight in-depth interviews were conducted with female, Saudi citizens and analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's approach. Goffman's theoretical concepts were deployed later in the analysis process to expose the complex nature of hospitality practices.FindingsIt reveals two main insights. First, the hosts' social duties involve staging the dinner table in line with hospitality norms. Such a staging almost always results in large amounts of surplus, but is necessary to manage guests' impressions and avoid criticism. Second, the enactment of moral and religious beliefs helps to divert surplus food away from waste toward charitable giving and, thence, to other forms of consumption. The findings reveal the social and moral purposes that surplus food serves; it enables people to be generous and charitable.Practical implicationsSuch insights provide guidance to practitioners by revealing how providing mechanisms for people to enact their existing moral beliefs can keep surplus food away from the waste stream.Originality/valueIt contributes to the limited food waste literature on domestic gatherings and moral and religious beliefs. Also, using Goffman's concepts adds depth to such an under-theorized area and a new lens to look at food waste-related practices as they are embedded within social interactions.

Use-up day and flexible recipes: Reducing household food waste by helping families prepare food they already have

In two 5-week randomized-controlled field studies, Canadian and US households were invited to make one meal per week from food that might otherwise be discarded, using flexible recipes. In the first study (Canada), tools to increase the salience of unused food (storage basket, clips to tag, or whiteboard) were also explored. A second study (US) examined a shorter program and the addition of follow-up reminders. Food waste was assessed with a self-reported food waste measure. Intervention groups reduced their food waste significantly versus baseline by 33% (Canada) and 46% (US) and versus control by 27% (Canada) and 33% (US). The salience tools (study 1) or duration (study 2) had no impact. Eight weeks after the intervention food saving continued although the intervention conditions no longer differed significantly from control. In the US, change in Perceived Behavioral Control partially mediated the impact of the intervention on food waste reduction.