Discussion on the methodology for determining food waste in household waste composition studies

Lebersorger, Sandra; Schneider, Felicitas

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.05.023

Cited by 248 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…There is no consensus among scholars on the definition of food waste [16], making it difficult to compare the findings of studies on the management of surplus food between different countries [17]. Numerous terms are often used as synonymous, such as food waste, food loss, bio-waste [18] and kitchen waste while at the same time the same word is often used with different meanings [19].…”

Section: The Concept Of Food Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a More Sustainable Food Supply Chain: Opening up Invisible Waste in Food Service

2016

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Future challenges to the global food supply chain are complex. In order to embrace sustainability, companies should change their management practices towards more efficient resource use. Food waste being a misuse of resources, we identify its causes and possible ways of minimising it. To achieve this goal, we conducted explorative research with qualitative and quantitative data through in-depth semi-structured interviews and an open questionnaire with top Spanish food service companies. Results show that most businesses mainly tend to minimise food waste according to economic criteria, without taking into account the social, ethical or environmental factors. As a consequence, just "visible" food waste that has an economic impact on the results is minimised. Nevertheless, visibility of real waste is often low. At the same time, awareness of (and therefore initiatives to reduce) food waste that does not directly affect a firm's profit can be increased through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Opportunities for reducing food waste therefore arise from increasing the visibility of food that is discarded as well as addressing plate waste. We identify best practices that could lead to a reduction of the amount of food waste generated in the out of home channel in Spain.

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Section: The Concept Of Food Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a More Sustainable Food Supply Chain: Opening up Invisible Waste in Food Service

2016

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“…Such categorization should consider all the divisions necessary to link different types of food waste with treatment methodologies in a way that their economic and social benefit are maximised and their environmental impact is minimized. Usually different studies use their own categorizations [20]. This section describes different attempts to classify food waste.…”

Section: Review On Methods To Classify Food Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more explicit classification with sub-categories was also suggested by Lebersorger and Schneider [20]. However the new subcategories introduced, namely life cycle stage and packaging, are applicable only at the retail and household levels.…”

Section: Review On Methods To Classify Food Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

A Methodology for Sustainable Management of Food Waste

García-García

Woolley

Rahimifard

et al. 2016

Waste Biomass Valor

156

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As much as one-third of the food intentionally grown for human consumption is never consumed and is therefore wasted, with significant environmental, social and economic ramifications. An increasing number of publications in this area currently consider different aspects of this critical issue, and generally focus on proactive approaches to reduce food waste, or reactive solutions for more efficient waste management. In this context, this paper takes a holistic approach with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the different types of food waste, and using this knowledge to support informed decisions for more sustainable management of food waste. With this aim, existing food waste categorizations are reviewed and their usefulness are analysed. A systematic methodology to identify types of food waste through a nine-stage categorization is used in conjunction with a version of the waste hierarchy applied to food products. For each type of food waste characterized, a set of waste management alternatives are suggested in order to minimize environmental impacts and maximize social and economic benefits. This decision-support process is demonstrated for two case studies from the UK food manufacturing sector. As a result, types of food waste which could be managed in a more sustainable manner are identified and recommendations are given. The applicability of the categorisation process for industrial food waste management is discussed.

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“…This fraction of MSW is called the organic fraction municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The OFMSW is characterised by high moisture and high biodegradability due to a large content of food waste, kitchen waste, and leftovers from residences, restaurants, cafeterias, factory lunch-rooms, and markets (Zhang et al, 2007;Lebersorger and Schneider, 2011).…”

Section: Msw and Food Wastementioning

confidence: 99%