Behavioural insights from food waste initiatives: what do they teach us? : Case study Food Waste Free United

Abstract

Six key success factors were distracted from the interviews. These were motivated individuals, awareness of the food waste problem, collaboration, presence of resources (time, money, manpower), capabilities (skills, expertise and entrepreneurship) and sufficient communication within one's own organisation, within the collaboration and towards the outside world. Four key barriers were identified. These include the different interests of stakeholders (also different expectations and priorities), a lack of resources (time, money, manpower), the challenges of new initiatives such as uncertainty and getting commitment, and the vulnerability of initiatives that flourish on motivation.Strengths of this case study are the diversity of initiatives, resulting in an extensive overview of perspectives, and the fact that the initiatives have been implemented in practice, leading to real-world behavioural insights. A limitation was that a maximum of five initiatives could be included and the guide was developed from an initiator point of view, making certain questions less applicable to participants.By taking all results into account, several key learnings came forward to support future food loss and waste reduction initiatives. Firstly, use an integrated sector approach and stimulate collaboration and partnerships. Secondly, ensure continuity by constant attention, agenda setting and having a longterm vision. Thirdly, it is important to start small and simple, and keep some flexibility to adapt to the situation at hand. Furthermore, it is recommended to assess the impact by measuring the effects on food waste reduction as well as other gains. Showing and sharing these successes works 'connecting', helps setting new (social/company) norms and acts as a motivator for action. Finally, because the focus of the initiatives was on motivation and opportunity, it is recommended that developers also check whether (c)abilities (knowledge and skills) of actors are sufficient for the required behavioural change. The key learning for STV is to be as clear as possible towards her stakeholders on what it

How can behavioural insights from science and practice strengthen future food waste initiatives? : Food waste free united case study - stakeholder workshop results

“…These findings are in line with our previous work on behavioural insights from FW initiatives and interventions. In the case study that we carried out in 2020, several initiators and participants from FW initiatives were interviewed and we found that Motivation and Opportunity were the most observed MOA aspects in the initiatives, and Ability received relatively less attention (Zeinstra et al, 2021). The fact that multiple behaviour challenges were identified underpins that food waste behaviour is a result of multiple sub-behaviours, a finding that has been acknowledged in previous research (Quested, Marsh, Stunell, & Parry, 2013;Secondi, Principato, & Laureti, 2015;Van Geffen et al, 2016).…”

“…In addition, working on food waste data and solutions did not seem to be supported by additional resources, nor was it a KPI. This does not facilitate a social norm of "working on food waste is normal in our organisation" (Aramyan et al, 2021;Zeinstra et al, 2021) Aspects related to Abilities (A) were less prominent in the discussion, although it was recognized that skills and knowledge may be needed to execute these behaviours.…”

“…The results of this study were published in a public report (Zeinstra et al, 2021) and STV wrote a news article on the findings and shared these recommendations with their stakeholders (STV, 2021).…”

“…Further explanation and details on the MOA consumers food waste model and the behavioural change intervention wheel can be found in our previous report (Zeinstra et al, 2021).…”

“…Here, 'Enablement' and 'Education' were the most applied intervention strategies within the initiatives (Zeinstra et al, 2021), also a combination of a more person-oriented approach and a more environmental-related approach. In our business case discussion, 'Enablement' was also mentioned several times, mainly in the solutions that were proposed for the 'opening the data' and 'sharing the data' issues.…”