Category: Food Waste

1. Introduction

Food waste is any by-product or waste product generated from any level within the food chain. Hereinafter, identifies and discusses the food waste problem in Malaysia with a detailed explanation of factors contributing and the prevention activities taken by the food waste producers and related organizations.

In addition, policies and regulations of the Malaysia Government are researched in detail in order to further understand the current food waste situation in Malaysia and to look into if the prevention of the Government and related organizations has increased the public’s overall awareness of food waste in Malaysia.

2. Definition of Food Waste

Food waste is a growing global issue that is affecting the health of the environment and the population inhabiting the earth. Food waste can be further classified into food loss, unavoidable food waste, and avoidable food waste (Lim, Chin, Yusof, Yahya, & Tee, 2016).

Food loss and food waste represent a misuse of resources that are used to produce it. Food loss refers to the decrease in quantity or quality of food, that is lost during the preparation and production of the food supply chain. As for food waste, it is part of food loss, unavoidable food waste refers to the inedible parts of food including fruit core and peels. Avoidable food waste is edible food loss generated at any level within the food chain, which includes production, processing, distribution, and consumption (Lim et al., 2016; Gan, 2018).

3. Food Waste Generation in Malaysia

The concern on food waste starts to increase in Malaysia, and it is one of the major environmental problems in Malaysia as it leads to water and air pollution, as well as health problems for the entire population. Ministry of Housing and Local Government in the year 2012, indicated that the Malaysian Government has built a total of 290 landfill sites, and above half of the sites have been closed due to insufficient capacity, and only 8 sites out of these met the standard requirement (Bashir, Tao, Abu Amr & Tan, 2018; Ghafar, 2017).

According to the figures by Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SW Corp), 55 percent of solid waste at landfill sites is food waste (The Star, 2018). Methane, harmful greenhouse gas is emitted when the food waste at the landfill sites decomposes anaerobically (Gan, 2018). In the year 2019, it is reported that a total of 310,220 tons of methane gas was generated from the landfill sites in Peninsular Malaysia, and the figure was estimated to increase further (Bashir et al., 2018).

Other than the food waste produced by the consumers, about 20 percent to 50 percent of fruits and vegetables are thrown away during the production chain as based on the figure provided by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) (The Star, 2018). This food loss and food waste are sent to landfill sites as well.

As stated above food waste are produced at all level of the food chain including the production and supply chain. The factors that contributed to the generation of food waste includes household, hotels, restaurants, and commercial activities (Asro & Ahmad, 2018).

Malaysians generate 16,688 tons of food waste on a daily basis, which can feed 12 million people for three meals a day (Noor, 2018), out of this about 60 percent of wasted food is still edible (Sunway For Good, 2017). Moreover, food waste is reported to increase by 15 percent to 20 percent during festival seasons (Nurul, 2019; Hassandarvish, 2019).

It is observed that larger restaurants and buffets tend to produce more food waste. As for small restaurants, the food is often cooked when the order is taken thus lesser waste is produced. However, for buffets and for large events, the food is prepared ahead of time and the food goes to waste if a large group of people cancels their buffet reservation at the last minute (Adbul & Navin, 2014).

It is reported that buffets 270,000 tons of waste food are thrown away during festival seasons (Sunway For Good, 2017), and this causes monetary losses to restaurants and buffets (Hassandarvish, 2019; Adbul & Navin, 2014). It is also reported that during Ramadan in the year 2018, a total of 615,000 tons of food waste was recorded by SW Corp (The Star, 2018). There is food waste during other festival seasons such as Chinese New Year and Christmas, however, the impact of Ramadan seems higher as it lasts for a month. (Adbul & Navin, 2014)

In underdeveloped countries, about 300 grams of food waste are produced by each person a day, while in developed countries, an average of 3 to 4 kilograms of food waste is produced per person. However, in Malaysia, it is stated that about 1 kilogram of food waste is produced per person per day. (Adbul & Navin, 2014; Jereme, Siwar, Begum & Abdul, 2016). This is due to the economic growth in Malaysia, which increased the income and living standard of Malaysians, resulting in an increase in purchasing power and change in food consumption habits. (Syahirah, 2017; Ghafar, 2017; Jereme et al., 2016). According to the research, food waste produced by Malaysians in a day is equivalent to 93,000 kilograms of rice each day (Asro & Ahmad, 2018).

The households of Malaysia contribute a high percentage of food waste (Syahirah, 2017). According to the figure provided by SW Corp, a household of five spends an average of RM 900 per month on food, and a quarter of related food is wasted, which means about RM 2,700 a year per household is wasted (Jarjusey & Chamhuri, 2017; Asro & Ahmad, 2018). Based on the study conducted by Jarjusey and Chamhuri in 2017, 57 percent of the respondents are unaware of the difference between the best-before and used-by dates, which indicates that food is discarded due to a lack of clear knowledge and understanding of these dates (Jarjusey & Chamhuri, 2017).

On the other hand, based on the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) study, the homeless and poor in Malaysia are not getting a nourishment diet and 12% of children living in urban low-cost flats have less than three meals a day (UNICEF, 2018). In addition, homeless people in Kuala Lumpur range from 1,500 to 2,000, and these figures have increased over time (Wong, 2018).

4. Government Policies and Regulations on Food Waste in Malaysia

Malaysian Government has focused on the environment and waste management in Malaysia Plan, since the 6th Malaysia Plan. In the 8th Malaysia Plan, a National Recycling Program was re-launched and under the 9th Malaysia Plan, the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Bill was privatized (Jereme, Begum, Talib, Siwar, & Alam, 2015).

In 1998, the Government introduced Action Plan for a Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Malaysia and other recycling campaigns but it was unsuccessful. National Strategic Plan (NSP), a national plan for Municipal Solid Waste Management has succeeded the ABC Plan (Ghafar, 2017).

In 2007, the National Solid Waste Department was created, and important legislations Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 (Act 672) and the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation Act 2007 (Act 673) were created (Jereme et al., 2015). Act 672 was created with the function to provide and regulate the management of controlled solid waste and public cleaning with the purpose of maintaining proper sanitation (Jereme et al., 2015; Irisha & Esa, 2017). Act 672 was promulgated to emphasize the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and it bought some positive effects on food waste management, but food waste management is still under development and requires more attention and awareness (Lim et al., 2016). Based on the data from SW Corp in the year 2016, the recycling activities by the public have increased to 17 percent from 5 percent within five years, and the Government targeted to reach 22 percent by 2020, with the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (MP 11) (Irisha & Esa, 2017; Ghafar, 2017).

In 2010, the National Strategic Plan for Food Waste Management in Malaysia (NSPFWMM) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia in collaboration with the Japanese government’s Ministry of the Environment, which aims to educate and provide public awareness with the good habit on disposal of food waste, focusing on recyclable materials and 3Rs. (Lim et al., 2016)

Many waste management plans and projects have been proposed and launched in collaboration with the government. Examples include the National Biomass Strategy (NBS) 2020 in 2013, with the aim to utilize biomass waste for high-value products/activities. (Ghafar, 2017), and Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) have developed an Anaerobic Digestion System that generates energy by using food waste collected from the food courts (Asro & Ahmad, 2018).

The Government’s efforts lead to independent activities by other organizations and waste producers to reduce food waste, which are to be discussed in the next section.

5. Food Waste Prevention Activities by Organisations in Malaysia

Waste prevention activities are necessary and it is challenging as it is difficult to change waste generating behavior of the public. Educating and informing of recycling information, and redistribution of food within any level of the food chain, including waste producers and consumers, are important measures to be addressed (Bashir et al., 2018).

With the government’s efforts to reduce food waste, SW Crop is running a campaign and working with several hotels with buffet lines to reduce food waste by distributing and donating to the people in need (Noor, 2018). As for restaurants and buffets, some managements allow staff and dine-in customers to take away the leftover food, especially during festival seasons (Adbul & Navin, 2014). In order to keep food waste low, the buffets have adopted a system where foods are cooked when ordered by the customer (Hassandarvish, 2019).

In addition, Sunway Group also launched a campaign to take part in food waste prevention. The hotel collected 780 kilograms of surplus food from their buffets and distributed it to the people in need, and also collaborated with the existing soup kitchen to distribute buffet food (Sunway For Good, 2017),

The Government is also working together with non-profit organizations (NGOs) to increase public awareness and solve the food waste problem in Malaysia. An example will be MY Save Food Network which was set up by the Food Aid Foundation, they act as a food bank where that encourages retailers, companies, and individuals to donate their unsold and unused edible food, and these are collected and distributed to people in need (Asro & Ahmad, 2018; Ghafar, 2017).

In addition, Mutiara Food Bank, an NGO that collects and distributes food to charitable homes and poor families is established in Penang. A Local social enterprise, Grub Cycle, collects dry foodstuff that is close to the expiry date and sells it at a lower price to the people in need and tries to educate the public on the value of food (The Star, 2018). Not all public are aware of the difference between the best before and used-by dates (Jarjusey & Chamhuri, 2017), and the food still can be consumed even after the best before date, but many Malaysian have misconceptions about the best before date, thus foods are discarded (The Star, 2018).

Furthermore, both Malaysia Government and NGOs are aware the campaigns and activities conducted are still at an infant stage and more efforts are required to reduce food waste and create more awareness among the public (Syahirah, 2017).

6. Conclusion

Currently in Malaysia. the awareness of food waste are increasing and many efforts to prevent food waste have taken place by the Government and related organization. However, there is still limited awareness by the public and it is important for the public to understand that food waste is required to be managed for a better environment. It is reported that most individuals are still unaware of the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), and especially have less knowledge of food waste (Nurul, 2019). According to the data from SW Crops, the recycling activities by the public have increased, and with the development of technology, it seems to be betterment for the Government and NGOs to involve media and social networking to educate and spread awareness to the public.

What did you eat for breakfast? Scrambled eggs? Cereal? Oatmeal? All that sounds appetizing. But did you know that many people all around the world people are faced with hunger every day? Right now, as you are reading this, a person dies of starvation every six seconds. It’s not only the adults who face starvation, most of these deaths are young kids. With that in mind, approximately nine million die of hunger worldwide. That is more than the death toll for malaria, AIDs, and tuberculosis combined in 2012. Therefore, we should stop wasting our food. Some of the reasons that we should put an end to food wastage is that it’s depleting our natural resources very quickly, a lot of money is being lost worldwide, and it causes a negative impact in our environment.

When people throw away their leftovers, they don’t really consider how much labor and resources are used to make that food. Fortunately, there are some humans who think about the resources that went on to make that food. Around 25 percent of all the freshwater is being used to produce food that is being thrown away. Plus, another 300 million barrels of oil are also been used to make all the food that is being wasted. In addition, since more hungry people are being introduced in the world, that means that more and more food must be produced to feed everyone around the world. Guess what, with new people that are being born in the world, there are also those picky people that want the food in a certain way, and if it’s not their way, then they are going to just throw it away, like if it was nothing. When people throw away food, they are throwing away the “resources” that were used to make it away, and also money, which brings me to my next point.

Money is used all around our daily lives, including food. People don’t realize how much money was put in to produce the food that they have in their house. The National Resources Defense Council estimates that each year, the average American family of four throws away about $1,500 worth of food. Of all the food that is being produces all around the world, one-third of the food is never consumed. Therefore, Globally, people waste about one trillion dollars of food each year, with a total economic impact of about three trillion dollars each year if considering the environmental and social costs of things like deforestation, soil erosion, the increase in greenhouse gases, water scarcity, the exposure to chemicals, and reduced profits for farmers. Whenever a person wants to buy something healthy like organic fruits, the prices are going to drive up which causes a reduction of number of people who can afford the healthy food that they need. When people don’t have consistent access to healthy food, their productivity go down, causing their healthcare costs to increase, and in some cases, they could be unable to work due to the chronic diseases they have because they couldn’t afford the necessary healthy food. This means that there are going to be fewer productive people in the workplace, which puts a damper on the economy.

The next reason to why we should stop wasting our food is that all the negative effects it’s causing to our environment (including mother earth). When people throw away their food, they think that it will be disposed of properly, and it will not be seen again. Well, what they don’t know is that most of it goes to a landfill. In America, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA for short, 20 percent of what goes into municipal landfills is food. These landfills then end up causing harmful gasses to enter the atmosphere with the breakdown of the garbage and food, gases such as methane and carbon dioxide are released. These gases are what cause global warming and the reason why there is a hole in the ozone layer.

In conclusion, you should not waste food. There are many people around the world who are literally dying just to get a piece of food in their hands. Some of us take food for granted. According to Chris Hanley, food is a gift from God. It is also a basic human need and valid moral position to strive for enough food for ourselves and our families. Although we throw away food carelessly, we should think of food as something grateful.

Food plays a pivotal role in shaping society with its abundance or dearth impacting all facets of life. The first industrial revolution transformed the way economies functioned and with food being an immensely valuable commodity, for much of the mid-1800s to the early 20th century, food wastage was dissuaded. The periods of rationing during the world wars also had governments pushing for minimal wastage. The rapid globalization and green revolution allowed for mass production of cheap foods from the 1930s. With the increasing complexity of food chains, consumers become increasingly disconnected from the production and disposal of food and food waste become invisible. The abundance of food impacted the cultural relevance and economic value attached to it, completely flipping earlier attitudes (Evans et al., 2012). In the mid-2000s the realization that a third of all globally produced food, worth US$ 990 billion was wasted, was jarring especially in the face of the global food crises of 2008 (Evans et al., 2012). The environmental impacts of food waste are not just limited to the greenhouse gas emissions (3.3 Gigatons of CO2) as a result of rotting in landfills but also to the significant land (1.4 billion hectares) water (footprint 250 km3) and unquantifiable biodiversity loss (FAO, 2013). With 800 million people worldwide still food insecure, food waste becomes a highly political, social and economic issue, highlighting the underlying systemic issues with the current food system and the inequalities that have persisted (Alexander et al., 2013). The strain that food production puts on the planetary boundaries in the face of climate change and an ever-increasing population has spurred global organizations and countries into developing strategies and targets to reduce food waste. This essay will focus on the causes of food losses occurring in the supply chain and critically examine the industry initiatives and governments policies that were introduced to combat food loss.

FAO defines food loss as “A decrease in mass (dry matter) or nutritional value (quality) of food that was originally intended for human consumption, caused by inefficiencies in the food supply chains, such as poor infrastructure and logistics, lack of technology, insufficient skills, knowledge and management capacity of supply chain actors, and lack of access to markets”.

Food waste is defined as “food appropriate for human consumption being discarded, whether or not after it is kept beyond its expiry date or left to spoil. Often this is because food has spoiled but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply due to markets, or individual consumer shopping/eating habits”. The term food wastage encompasses them both (FAO, 2013).

The current food production levels can meet the needs of 10 billion people (Lee & Soma, 2016) hence identifying the causes of food wastage is of paramount importance if any successful policy intervention is to be planned. Successful food wastage reduction while mitigating the negative environmental effects, in no way guarantees more equitable distribution of food and hence it does not necessarily pose as a solution to attain the No Hunger goal laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (Pinstrup-Andersen et al., 2016). Food wastage in developed countries ranges from 280–300 kg/person/year while in developing countries it varies from 120–170 kg/person/year (Pinstrup-Andersen et al., 2016). In developed countries post-harvest food losses account for the majority of the wastage while in developed nations the waste is more apparent at the consumer end (FAO, 2013). Often policy focus is primarily on these food wastage hotspots, but it is important to acknowledge that these are not isolated stages and location should not be conflated with cause, the effect of the practices followed at a particular stage can reverberate throughout the system and affect waste generation at other levels, and hence a more holistic approach is required to combat the current food wastage crises (Gille, 2012).

Food wastage whether intentional or unintentional happens at every stage of the food chain starting from primary production. Food production for most farmers is often a risky endeavor with uncertainty related to weather, potential disease outbreaks, global market price fluctuation, evolving consumer preferences and they face additional constraints depending on the governmental and retail regulations in the region (Gille, 2012). Inefficiencies during primary production and manufacturing in developing countries stem from insufficient financial and structural support, limited access to technological innovations, and lack efficient storage and distribution channels which lead to increased occurrence of spoilage (FAO, 2013).To combat food losses, governments in developing countries like Afghanistan, Kenya, Bangladesh, etc., with the aid of organization like The International Fund For Agricultural Development have been developing schemes to ensure greater access to technological and infrastructural innovations to ensure more efficient production, storage and distribution (IFAD, 2019). Simple modifications have the potential to greatly reduce losses, as seen in the case of Afghanistan where United Nations aid used to make silos for crop storage reduced food loss due to pest and rot from 20% to 2% (FAO, 2013). The policies of developed countries like agricultural subsidies promoting excessive production, can also impact food waste in a different part of the world (Gille, 2012). Euthopia, despite having an alarmingly high Global Hunger Index score of 55.9, indicative of widespread food and nutritional insecurity (Global Hunger Index, 2019), still generates food waste. It gets American aid in the form of food grains, this caused a collapse of market for their own domestic produce, leading to waste generation. Apart from raising food waste levels these kinds of practices also lead to greater economic duress impacting the country’s ability to become self-reliant (Gille, 2012).

While in industrialized nations the primary production and post harvesting methods are very efficient, even then there is significant discard at the farm level, like in the case of Australia where 20-25% of fresh produce never makes it way to consumers. In developed countries contractual agreements which allow retailers to set strict cosmetic standards, price control, allow for last minute order cancellations or unwarranted reduction in purchase volume due to inaccurate inventory forecasting lead to food losses (Devine & Richards, 2018). Adhering to strict cosmetic standards means that products need to meet a specific shape, size, color, etc., criteria to be deemed acceptable by retailers and growers produce surplus to ensure that they can produce enough yield that will comply with the standards. In this way retailers flex their powers, forcing overproduction and resulting in waste being diverted to producers who face the economic loss and face moral judgement for being environmentally irresponsible while supermarkets achieve their low waste targets. Unbeknownst to the consumers, they are often cited by the supermarkets as being the drivers that lead to normalizing of these massive discards, through their expectation of perfect produce and fast changing preferences (Ghosh & Erriksson, 2019) though surveys have proved that consumer value taste more, independent of physical appearance (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Acknowledging grower’s inability to manipulate nature and aimed at reducing food wastage retailers have started selling these ‘ugly’ produce with Tesco’s ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ range, Woolworth’s ‘The Odd Bunch’ range and the ‘I’m Perfect’ range by Coles (Devine & Richards, 2018). Critics of this move call for relaxation of the quality standards and encourage incorporating these into their normal range instead, stating that the introduction of a cheaper imperfect range leading to undervaluing perfectly good produce. The regulations stated by the European Union for 26 fresh produce including bananas, carrots, capsicum were relaxed in 2008, but their sale still requires for their perceived imperfections to be acknowledged on the labels, despite nutritionally being at par with their normal counterparts and till date various other products like apples, citrus fruits, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches, nectarines, pears, strawberries, grapes and tomatoes have to adhere to these strict cosmetic standards (Gille, 2012).

Supermarkets serve as the link between producers and consumers and this gives them enormous power and influence within the food system. The procurement system set in place by retailers allows them to sell food products at a relatively inexpensive price, in industrialized nations this combined with easy access to storage technologies like refrigeration has led to consumer’s undervaluing of food, making thoughtless discarding practices commonplace (Evans and Welch, 2015). Food manufacturers not only have to be content with smaller margins due to the cost at which supermarkets sell goods to maintain their competitive edge, they often must absorb the additional financial loss incurred in disposing off the unsold products (Devine & Richards, 2018). Retailers not only cause waste generation at primary production and manufacture level but they have also believed to have a hand in encouraging waste at household level. An ever-expanding range of goods promotional offers like ‘Buy one get one free’, the presence of heavily discounted goods, large packaging, confusing food date labelling, subtle psychological cues relating to product location, size of basket, all encourage increased unplanned purchases by consumers, which in turn increase food waste at household level (Lee & Soma, 2016). Recently in a bid to reduce food waste, some supermarkets like Sainsburys and Tesco phased out the Bogof for perishable food commodities, but with part of their pledge also promising to deliver lower regular prices for all products instead, critics have been skeptical of any actual impact on consumer wastage levels, stating these will only ensure continued financial growth and goodwill for the retailer not much else (Morley, 2016) In developing countries, a greater dependence on mobile venders for fresh produce and more frequent shopping is believed to limit over purchasing (Lee & Soma, 2016) and hence their 4-16% food waste rates as compared to the 31-39% in the developed nations (FAO, 2013).

Supermarkets with their aisles overflowing with product and constant stock replenishments to attract customers inevitably end up with a lot of stock past it’s sell by date, despite this food waste at retail level is minimal as compared to the rest of the system. As a part of their corporate social responsibility, supermarkets have been donating food to food relief organization, and despite food redistribution being of the most viable process described in the waste management hierarchy, many believe that financial motivations not an altruistic mindset drives these kinds of self-regulatory efforts. In the 2000s, aimed at reducing landfill waste countries in the EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand all increased their landfill taxes, this aimed to give value to waste diverting it towards less environmentally degrading waste treatments, while not exclusively aimed at reducing food waste, this is believed to be chiefly responsible for pushing supermarkets towards more financially viable alternatives like donating to food banks, which also makes them eligible for tax cuts (Devine & Richards, 2018). Coles and Woolworths in Australia have been pushing for zero waste in stores by donating to food relief organization and using excess food as animal feed and composting, while reducing food waste, they often come under fire for excessive avoidable plastic packaging and using non-recyclable plastic toys as marketing gimmicks, raising doubts about their commitment for waste reduction (Hall, 2019). Tesco and Aldi in the UK voluntarily committed to halving food waste by 2030 unlike the other chains that have stuck to the 20% reduction outlined in the Courtauld Commitment, but the former has been criticized for relegating most of the landfill food waste to incinerators instead and with food donated accounting for only 39% of the food waste (Dickinson, 2018). Targeted at reducing consumer level food waste, Sainsbury’s short-lived pilot project provided educational and technological solutions, but achieving a mere 9% reduction was scrapped (Dickinson, 2018). Inconsistent decisions made by retailers hence lead to decreasing confidence in their ability to reduce food waste in the absence of strictly enforced government.

Identifying the need for a more cohesive communication channel within the food chain numerous applications like Flashfood, OLIO, Goodr etc. have emerged, providing a platform for connecting producers to consumers, retailers to charities and facilitating food sharing amongst consumers to help reduce food waste. Companies not a part of the traditional food chain have been coming up with innovative approaches to solve the food waste problem, like Winnow’s use of Artificial Intelligence to study and help optimise restaurant service to reduce food waste by 40-70% within 6-12 months are also finding great acceptance in the food industry (Bozhinova, 2018). Promising breakthroughs in active and intelligent packaging research has retailers looking to these to prolong shelf life and reduce food waste (Verghese et al., 2013).

The policies adopted by national governments championing food waste reduction have been varied both in terms of their scope and strategies. In Australia they largely focus on consumer education initiatives and emphasise voluntary actions on part of industries, the lack of regulatory action and significant funding at the federal level could serve as the major obstacle in achieving the target of halving food waste by 2030. Governments have also broadcasted documentaries on food waste like “Wasted – The story of food waste” by Special Broadcasting Service, and “Just eat it” by Knowledge Network both aimed at making food waste more visible and starting a discussion about food waste (SBS, 2019). The Love Food Hate Waste initiative in the United Kingdom as part of the Waste and Resources Action Programme also focuses on raising awareness about food waste by including it in the school curriculum, providing tools and training to restaurants and food outlets in reducing food waste, has reported to prevent 137,000 tonnes of food wastage and reducing household waste generation by 21% (Macdiarmid et al., 2016). Despite similar regulatory framework as Australia, greater investment in waste reduction measures and the more proactive stance of industries has seen UK achieve better results (Sleet, 2019).

More radical regulatory approaches have also been applied like France’s law banning supermarkets disposal of food waste in landfills, which saw a 30% surge in food donations but the presence of a loophole regarding no specified minimum donation limits, even 1% food donation ensures compliance which defeats the spirit of the law (Mourad & Finn, 2019). A similar South Korean law, banning food waste disposal in landfills actually saw a 6% increase in food waste generation attributed to their rising income levels (Parfitt et al., 2010). Urban waste treatment collection and treatment initiatives by government has been increasing but their success depends on their being backed by legislation, capital investment for infrastructure and technological innovation. However it is important to ensure that greater focus remains on preventative measures and one should not become heavily dependent on them for eliminating avoidable food waste (Alexander et al., 2013).When food waste disposal becomes a profitable venture and industries come up as a response to managing this waste it can trigger and drive a greater continued waste generation to ensure profits for these companies with no incentive for any waste reduction (Alexander et al., 2013). Current policies and practices fail to take a systems approach while attempting to tackle food waste, it is important to acknowledge the drivers of overproduction, with waste prevention does not waste disposal being the priority. That is the only way to conserve natural resources and minimise environmental externalities along the food supply chain (Mourad & Finn, 2019).

Foodbanks and food rescue organizations have come up in response to finding a more equitable way to use what retailers perceive to be food waste, their action helps give value to food that otherwise would have been lost. ‘Feed America’ in the US and ‘European federation of foodbanks’ in the European Union provides for 37 million and 5.2 million people respectively (Timmermans et al., 2014).While donating to food banks allows for rescue of quality food, it shifts the focus away from the systemic issues within the food supply chain and the unfair procurement policies of the supermarkets which promote excessive production and consumption in the first place (Devine & Richards, 2018). When Food rescue organizations become the primary entities combating food insecurity it reduces the scrutiny on the ineffectiveness of government policies and strategies that have been in place to combat the systemic issues that result in the inaccessibility of food for a large section of the society (Macdiarmid et al., 2016).

The needs and the wants of the consumers drive the food industry, and once awareness increases with their immense power, they can impact the actions of retailers. Food waste by consumers which forms the bulk of food wastage in developed countries is often attributed to lack of planning prior to purchasing leading to overprovisioning. This can also be driven by cultural norms or stemming from an intrinsic need to be a good provider (Schanes et al., 2018). Aside from the innate behavioural motivations others factors also contribute to overprovisioning. Comprehensive labels with variety of date tags like “minimum durability”, “use by” and “sell by”, often put on products as a way to protect retailers and manufacturers from potential liabilities, (Parfitt et al., 2010), end up confusing shoppers who in an attempt to ensure safety pick the freshest variant in the supermarket and throw out perfectly edible products at home, hence increasing food waste (Gille, 2012). Some manufacturers like Calbee have come up with cleaner labels stating “best before month” instead of a specific date while others like Kewpie and Kikkoman have come up with innovations that allow them to increase the shelf life of their products that include mayonnaise and soy sauce, and Mizkan is selling snacks made from vegetable peels redefining what constitutes as inedible food components, all potentially reducing food waste to allow for Japanese industries to meet the national 20% food waste reduction goal by 2030 (Minai and Obayashi, 2019). With discarding of foods past their best-by date a common practice in Nordic supermarkets, government mandate to reduce food waste had industries delving into research involving optimal cold chain temperatures and modelling to see the effectiveness of increased shelf life for waste reduction, which predicted reduction rates of 970,000 across the supply chain (Moller, 2016). Increasing shelf life while promoting cleaner labels with clearer distinction between quality-based and safety-based date labels is hence required to reduce food waste (Timmermans et al., 2014). Sometimes people tend to under report their household waste, composting and other recycling methods while motivated by good intentions can sometimes be tied to increased waste generation not prevention, by way of mitigating guilt related to unsustainable consumption practices (Schanes et al., 2018).

Love Food Hate Waste initiative originally started in the UK which has been taken up by some Australian states too, aims to reduce household food waste by raising consumer awareness about the economic and environmental impacts, they also provides recipes that can be made from leftover or stale food or zero waste recipes that make use parts of the produce that is usually discarded, discourage excess buying, provide storage tips etc (Roser & Ritchie, 2019). Similar information is also provided by retailers like Coles, Woolworths, Aldi etc on their sites. Government interventions as previously mentioned usually take the form of campaigns targeted at consumers and are sometimes through to solely blame them for the food waste problem instead of putting responsibility on all the key members in the food supply chain. A rising dissatisfaction with the governmental and institutional insufficiencies in addressing core issues has given rise to freeganism and dumpster diving which involves salvaging food from commercial dumpsters and can be motivated by political activism or driven by food insecurity. Freeganism advocates for more sustainable consumption with reduced environmental impact, while also aiming to highlight the social inequalities that result in food insecurity (Papargyropoulou et al., 2014).Consistent overconsumption is also defined by some as food wastage, with the average calorie intake in affluent countries in the EU, Oceania and North America in well excess of 3100kcal/day, leading to increasing rates of nutritional related health problems (Roser & Ritchie, 2019). While more efficient production in developing countries can lower food prices making it more accessible, they may follow the higher food wastage trends and health problems as seen in the developed nations. In Iran subsidising of bread lead to greater waste at consumption level, hence production efficiency, retail accountability and consumer awareness all need to be addressed to have a lasting impact on the problem of food waste and food security (Timmermans et al., 2014).

Rising levels of food waste highlight a systemic issue in the food supply chain, with all the key players producers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers, playing a part in driving the irresponsible production and consumption practices. The major contributors of food wastage differ across the global north and south, their discarding practices have great environmental and economic impact, while also undermining the food security of millions of people around the world. In recent years spurred by the intense media scrutiny, rising advocacy by NGOs, political activists and the general public both retailers and governments have come up with measures and policies to tackle the problem of food waste. Retailers often face criticism for achieving their zero waste targets at the cost of the other actors in the supply chain with their contractual agreements and instore practices. Governmental regulations relating to food waste tend to focus on consumer awareness and voluntary commitments from industry, stricter regulations where they exist have often been criticised for their limited scope deemed inadequate to address the underlying issues of disparity that the high level of food waste is indicative of. Both governmental and industry efforts have been focused on more effective food waste utilization, donating to food banks and use of technology to give greater value to food waste, but these quick fixes obscure what should be the most important goal, prevention of food waste and fixing the flaws inherent to the system. Public engagement is pivotal to help reduce food waste, raising consumer awareness not only helps reduce food waste at home, but can often lead to building pressure on the other members in the supply chain forcing them to amend their policies to achieve significant waste reduction. It is essential to take a systems approach when dealing with food waste, only an intervention that takes into purview the entirety of the food chain will show promising results.

A recent study by Magnet found America as the second leading country in food wastage. The revelation that Americans generate an average of two hundred and seventy-eight kilograms per capita is a clear indication that the US is leading to food production. On the other hand, the figures demonstrate that the country lacks effective mechanisms to prevent wastage and ensure that no American starves as others offload leftovers in landfills. The fact that dumpsites are filled with tons of spoilt and left-over food means that food wastage in the US is a serious problem that needs urgent measures. In essence, the phenomenon, as mentioned above, spells food insecurity, environmental impact, and economic impact. Whereas the causes of food wastage vary from country to country, it emerges that consumer behavior, food policy, and confusion of expiration date commonly contribute to wastage in the US. In this light, the problem of food wastage can be solved by behavior change, favorable food policy, and standardization of food date labels.

Food wastage is a problem because it is a threat to food security. It is estimated that one-third of the food that goes to waste in America is capable of bringing to end food insecurity in the event that it is distributed effectively to the people in need of it. USDA projects that close to twelve percent of the US households were prone to hunger at some point in 2016 (Coleman-Jensen et al., 5). With this in mind, every American ought to seriously consider food waste as a critical subject that needs urgent measures. Households should reflect on food insecurity each time they empty their plates in bins. Although a good number of individuals think that food insecurity can be best solved by food donations, in a real sense, hunger can be eliminated by redistribution of food to food banks (Neff, 12). In this light, food waste exposes the populace to hunger, consequently forcing the country to devise proper distribution channels to make the essential commodity to hungry people.

Food waste is a significant concern because it leaves an indelible mark on the environment. In particular, the growth and transportation of food consume resources, not to mention that it creates emissions. For example, the agricultural sector accounts for 38% of the country’s water consumption (Myers 236). Besides, transportation of food causes carbon dioxide emissions, even though a lot of water is used, and volumes of methane gas are produced in livestock farming. Furthermore, the use of fertilizer in agricultural fields causes nitrogen and phosphorous to pollute water bodies. Coupled with animal waste, fertilizer leads to eutrophication in waterways. Clearly, the above issue negatively affects Americans and the rest of the world because it gradually causes climate change. Since a lot of food goes to waste, it seems that the US is investing much in food production at the expense of environmental degradation. Thus, there is need to reduce food wastage to save the environment.

The seriousness of food wastage lies in its influence on the economy. According to Martin, America loses two hundred and eighteen billion US dollars in food loss (Martin, 1155). On the other hand, American farmers incur a loss of fifteen billion dollars annually through food wastage while manufacturers part with two billion dollars per year. American consumers are not spared because their businesses lose fifty-seven billion dollars on an annual basis. As such, food wastage affects the pockets of each American. This problem requires the attention of the population, considering that its solution lies in their hands. There is a need to reduce food waste and to strengthen the American economy.

Confusion surrounding expiration date significantly contributes to the wastage of food. Notably, label confusion is responsible for approximately 20% of consumer waste, and it is valued at $29 billion (Myers, 146). This means that close to 90% of American households dispose of fresh food occasionally (Myers, 149). Different labeling practices such as ‘sell by’, ‘best before’, and ‘use by’ often confuse consumers leading to the trashing of food while still fresh. The establishment of standardized labeling practices can solve this confusion. In essence, the creation of uniform standards across the globe aimed at reducing complexity around expiry dates would minimize ambiguity in labels and help the consumer to know the exact time that the food would not be fit for consumption. Knowing the exact date allows consumers to cut wastage by avoiding over-storage of food and also avoid buying goods in bulk if they have a short- shelf life.

Consumer behavior causes food waste, and it can be solved by using the best food practices. Generally, consumers dispose of food for different reasons. Affluence, for instance, is commonly cited as a contributing factor to food waste. The causes are, however, rooted in poor planning and lack of awareness regarding the consumption of food. For example, purchasing too much foodstuff is likely to cause the consumer to throw away food. In addition, preparing a lot of food, or poor cooking and lack of awareness about food storage create more chances for the food to end up in the landfill (Myers, 137). Most importantly, eating habits such as a preference for certain types of food leads to the neglect of others hence rendering them useless even though they are suitable for human consumption. To avoid wastage, consumers ought to embrace best practices such as purchasing food in accordance with the number of household members, learning and practicing food preservation, and serving small portions. Also, farmers should produce food basing on demand to avoid the overproduction of food that is not popular.

Food packaging necessitates wastage. Food that is packaged in overly large containers or portions leave the consumer with no choice other than purchase the product whose quantity exceeds demand. In most cases, buyers prefer large portions of food owing to the notion that it helps in achieving net savings as compared to the purchase of small packages. However, the need to save some dollars comes at a price: food wastage. In other words, the consequence of bulk purchasing is a false economy whereby half of the purchase finds its way to the composite when it overstays. This problem can be tackled by reducing the sizes of packages, which would allow customers to buy the quantity that is equivalent to household needs. Similarly, restaurants and cafeterias can manage food by serving food on smaller placed rather that trays. This idea has already been tested and proved to be effective. The University of Massachusetts Amherst removed trays from its dining halls and as a result, it reported a 30%reduction in wastage. It is worth a try in other places.

The quest for perfect produce contributes to wastage. Emphasize food appearance causes food wastage, which can be tackled by the introduction of food policy. Many restaurants and food retailers across the country throw away food simply because it is not pretty enough to attract consumers. Close to one-third of food waste results from retail stores that dispose of large quantities of fresh food owing to quality demands that focus on appearance. The UK-Based Soil Association argued that crops that do not meet the appearance standards are most likely to produce twenty to forty percent rejection. On the other hand, Myers highlights that a cucumber farmer projects that 75% of his rejected product is suitable for human consumption (Myers, 88). This can be solved by enacting policies that sensitize consumers and companies on the nutritive values of products as opposed to appearance. Similarly, initiatives aimed at marketing and popularizing ugly produce would reduce wastage.

Lastly, lack of waste tracking and analytics leads to wastage and hence need to employ technology. In most cases, food goes to waste because of the absence of devices that can track places where it is required. Apparently, there are initiatives aimed at using technology to avoid losses. Silicon Valley, for example, is capitalizing on waste problems to make a fortune. Food-tech has proved successful considering that it made a whopping 5.7 million in 2015 (Myers, 157). Currently, fresh food wastage is a $1 trillion problem in terms of irrigation and water consumption. Therefore, technology stands a high chance of bringing positive changes that would eventually cut the amount spent in production and curb wastage.

Overall, food wastage is a serious problem that needs urgent measures. The fact that the US produces large quantities of food does not mean that the challenge to hunger if finished. In fact, the real threat to food insecurely is deeply rooted in food wastage. Various factors make America to be ranked second in food wastage. Consumer behavior, food policy, and labeling of expiry dates; all combined predispose a section of the American populace to hunger. Fortunately, these causes can be solved by embracing best practices, enacting food policies that emphasize on nutritive value and standardization of expiry labels. It is worth noting that the above solutions can effectively reduce wastage and hence ensures food security, conserve the environment, and foster economic growth. Although Americans must be concerned with wastage, they are, however, supposed to consolidate their efforts and curb the wastage at the household level. A well-balanced food supply and consumer chain may negate incidences of food wastage. Altogether, the solutions provided are valid and possible if all stakeholders are involved.

Works Cited

1. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Rabbitt P. Matthew, Gregory A. Christian and Singh Anita. Household Food Security in the United States in 2016. United States Department of Agriculture, September 2017, http://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84973/err-237.pdf. Accessed 7 November 2019.
2. Martin, Donna S. ‘Food Waste: A Solvable Problem’. Journal of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol 117, no. 8, 2017, p. 1155.
3. Myers, Norman and Spoolman Scott. Environmental Issues and Solutions: A Modular Approach. Cengage Learning, 2013.
4. Neff, Roni A. et al. ‘Wasted Food: U.S. Consumers’ Reported Awareness, Attitudes, And Behaviors’. Plos One, vol 10, no. 6, 2015, p. 12.

According to Reset Editorial, an estimated 1.3 out of 4 billion plenty of food is wasted globally every year. Therefore, an estimated one-third of all the food produced within the world goes to waste. While the food goes to the landfills and starts to rot, it produces methane. This greenhouse emission could be a greater threat than carbonic acid gas. In step with World Wild Life, about 11% of all the gas emissions are produced thanks to food wastage alone. When looking at the present dinning industry, you ought to ask yourself, ‘How much food is wasted in restaurant establishments?’. While conducting research supported this subject, it’s come to my attention through Foodprint that, “US restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of scraps each year” (Foodprint, April 15, 2020).

In order to form a change towards a circular dining experience, we must first understand the explanation for all this wasted food. Generally, restaurants would like to abate on their waste percentages so as to keep up higher profit margins. This is often also the rationale for the classic FIFO (first in first out) system. Restaurants that adopt the FIFO system will make sure that the inventory to be organized and permit for correct rotation of the products. this permits for the oldest items in their inventory to be used first, which is able to ultimately weigh down waste matter by to reducing spoilage rates. This technique has been around for an awfully very long time but, isn’t the answer to the ever-growing food wastage problem. A circular shift within the dining industry must be made so as to tackle food wastage on a bigger scale. There are currently restaurants opening round the world with the only purpose of reducing waste material by being sustainable self-sustainable, transparent and circular. Also, there are restaurants collaborating with other companies to seek out solutions towards repurposing their wasted food.

The dining industry could have a good influence over changing the final public’s mindset towards waste material, which makes room for innovations and solutions for this particular problem.

Wastage Within the Food and Beverage Industry

Restaurants are big contributors towards the food wastage dilemma that the planet has been facing for countless of years. Speaking out of 10 years’ experience while working within the industry, I’ve seen lots of food being fed to the trash. The food being thrown out wasted wasn’t just from guests not finishing their courses, but most of the waste generated was because of overbuying, mal preparation, not repurposing trimmings byproducts, punching incorrect orders (over producing), lack of care awareness, not properly using the FIFO system (spoilage) and overall poor management. To my surprise, it’s been shown that these being the foremost common reasons for food wastage in restaurants when conducting research regarding the subject (aside from my very own knowledge and experience). According to BigHospitality, “For every meal eaten during a UK restaurant, nearly half a kilo of food is wasted through preparation, spoilage and what gets left behind on the diners’ plates. Waste costs UK restaurants around £682m each year, which adds a financial slant to an environmental problem that seems too simple to repair in spite of everything, mostly made-up things like potato peel, carrot tops and chicken bones” (Bighospitality, Georgia Bronte, 11 December, 2017).

What Is Currently Being Done to Combat Food Wastage

Restaurants are finding ways to combat food wastage altogether forms, some being logical, more innovative. The way restaurants are combating wastage has a tighter overview of the present supply chain. By ensuring proper sales forecasts, restaurants can reduce wastage by ordering precise amounts portions which lowers the possibility of spoilage caused by overstocking.

Donating food has also always been a preferred option. Food that’s near expiring might be donated to charity. In step with Lavu, “Of the 1.3 billion heaps of food wasted every year, roughly 520 million tons are from restaurants. Nowadays, more and more charities are stoning up nationwide that allow restaurants to donate unused food. There’s even a law protecting restaurants from being sued for donating unused food if it makes someone ill (there also are no documented lawsuits of this type), provided there was no intentional misconduct or negligence when handling the food” (Lavu, By Julia Mullaney, June 9th, 2017).

Giving uneaten leftovers to employees helps the cause. Let’s say there’s a special happening but it’s not selling that well. Sometimes charities are note able to receive certain donations thanks to strict guidelines they may have regarding the character of the donation. At now the special may well be given to employees to enjoy either during their lunch break or reception. This manner the food doesn’t get spoiled and you’ve got happy employees, this may be a win scenario thanks to increasing the staff happiness and loyalty and not wasting any food. This principle could even be used for unused products nearing their expiration date.

By engaging teaching, the restaurant’s employees, you’re creating more awareness towards the difficulty, which could give them crucial foresight in ways to stop food wastage. Consistent with FoodHero, “Good restaurants get the full staff on board to assist reduce waste matter. Whether it’s being conscious of portion sizes, proper storage or perhaps turning out with great ideas, everyone involved during a commercial kitchen contains a role to play. And it’s the identical for your ‘staff’. Whether you reside with family or roommates, get the entire aggroup to hurry on what you’re trying to accomplish. If you don’t think they’d want to be involved, try approaching it in a very way that’s asking them for ideas and support rather than assigning a chore. The more people involved, the better!” (FoodHero, 28th, October, 2019).

Other Measures Being Taken to Chop Back Waste

• Storing food correctly: food storage in the right conditions will prove to be vital for preserving the quality and prevent pathogenic bacterial growth, both of which could quickly end in waste.
• Practice stock rotation regularly: this ensures that newer stock is routinely placed behind older stock, and also the older stock will always be exhausted first before it’s chance to go to waste.
• Temperature control: good temperature control is crucial for food safety because it prevents the expansion of harmful pathogenic bacteria.
• Correct labelling protocols: by tracking the restaurant’s stock by keeping it organized makes it much easier to oversee what the restaurant has in stock and what needs to be used, preventing unlabeled containers from being thrown away by accident or because not knowing what’s in them.
• Keep a stock on inventory: this means keeping a close list of the foods altogether by the restaurant inventory management software of your storage areas, including their use-by best-before dates, that you just simply can easily consult with; this avoids foods getting forgotten and visiting waste.
• Paying attention to use-by dates: it’s essential that you simply just simply have a reliable stock management and stock rotation system (FIFO) in situ so as that food doesn’t spoil or venture out of date before they are often used; use-by dates should be checked on a on a day after day.
• Incorporate leftover and use food efficiently: for example, vegetable peelings and animal bones are often accustomed make stocks and soups, while day-old bread is formed into croutons or breadcrumbs.

New and Innovative Ways on Tackling Food Wastage in Restaurants

There are many new ways that could help the prevention of food wastage such as incorporating farm-to-table dining experiences. Farm-to-table is an efficient and clean way to produce food and reduce waste by building the menu on a seasonal base. What the concept entails is that restaurants with a farm-to-table working environment will only source their products from local farmers or will have their own farms the begin with. This allows the restaurant to reduce its waste by purchasing the produce that don’t look cosmetically adequate enough to sell in grocery stores. Believe it or not, this is an ongoing dilemma. Food that does not op-hold to certain cosmetic standards will most likely not be purchased by most grocery stores. A current start up trend in the retail of these ugly produce products has proven to be successful is helping to prevent food waste. According to Forbes, “Imperfect produce is often turned away by grocery stores for not meeting strict cosmetic standards making up around 40% of total food waste” (Forbes, Brian Kateman, March 2nd, 2020). Beyond these facts, farm-to-table could also help reduce food wastage due to the products having longer shelf lives. This is because of the products coming straight from the source which would reduce transportation and other steps in between. A matter of fact this would also reduce emissions caused by transportation from all the in-between steps from other middlemen. Therefore, farm-to-table concepts are great ways for restaurants to reduce food and packaging waste and on-top of that, increase the quality and transparency of the food plus create a guild free consumption dining experience for their guests.

Another great concept would be zero-waste dining. This is where restaurants have their mission set by not generating any waste at all. This would entail that the kitchen, bar and management are constantly challenged on finding ways to use everything the ingredient has to offer in order not to produce waste. This would basically be using the product to its full potential and finding ways to repurpose if necessary. An example would be using old coffee grindings to grow mushrooms with. In the zero-waste concept waste isn’t seen as garbage but as an opportunity to create value out of the byproducts or as other might see it as waste products. Zero-waste restaurants achieve their zero-waste status in different ways such as by local foraging, choosing ethical suppliers, composting and use reusable food containers and having a nose to tail policy. A nose to tail policy means that the restaurant would use the as much of the animal as possible. Also, many foods would be repurposed in order to make the sure they could prevent wastage as much as possible. Examples would be making banana bread out of old bananas, using fermenting or pickling techniques to increase the shelf life, using the rest of a fish after it being fillet for a broth, using an entire lemon for a drink (zest and all), etc. According to 9Fold, “The typical restaurant generates about 150,000 pounds of waste annually, and over 30% of total restaurant budgets are spent on that food. So, eliminating even a small percentage of that waste can save your restaurant some serious money. Studies show that, for every $1 invested in food waste reduction, restaurants can realize $8 in savings” (9Fold, Matt Volpe, January 29th, 2020). Needless to say, not only does the zero-waste concept help save the world form food waste and other greenhouse emissions, but it also adds some extra money in the restaurants pocket. This is a movement that could change the outlook of many people and influence them to do the same. This concept could be brought to households which would ultimately reduce food waste amounts drastically over the years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, these 2 concepts are a clear form of innovation within the dining industry due to the fact that these types of restaurants are tackling the food waste dilemma straight at its source. With the farm-to-table concept waste is reduced due to cutting out the middle man, using ugly produce and having a seasonal menu. And restaurants with a zero-waste mentality are beyond the conventional restaurant trying to reduce waste. Their whole mission is to latterly produce no waste at all. Beyond these facts, these concepts are also very new and creative therefore making these concepts true innovations that could influence reduction in food waste numbers and influence others to follow.

Food waste has become a contributor to climate change, energy consumption, and the growing impoverished and food-deprived population. People’s lack of consideration is the base of this issue, and if we continue, these problems will progress and eventually reach to an extent of which is unreturnable. This is considered the dumbest environmental problem, as the solution to this problem is easy – people need to realize what they are doing to their environment and change how they manage their food.

Disturbing

The amount of food in this country that goes to waste is quite alarming, and the reasons behind this are absurd. According to the Department of Agriculture, thirty to forty percent of all food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten, every year, and these numbers are booming. The average family of four wastes some $2,000 worth of food a year by carelessly throwing out food that they bought too much of, therefore leaving it to expire. However, households are not the only culprit in this situation. Major contributors to this issue are restaurants, farms, produce markets, and grocery stores. Entire fields of unharvested produce are quite often abandoned by farmers. Nearly one-third of all food grown in cropland is left to rot if farmers believe it isn’t up to consumer’s standards, which sums up to over $100 billion. Most grocery stores and produce markets follow suit – food believed to not be up to customer expectations gets tossed. These foods usually consist of those that are odd sizes, misshapen, damaged, or discolored, though these characteristics often have nothing to do with the quality of the produce. Also, stores often rely on the sell-by dates to gauge when they should be discarded. The meaning of the dates stamped on food items is unknown by the public, as they assume it seems the item inedible. These dates are the estimated freshness peak of the food, and the food is usually good for days after, but because customers turn away, grocery stores instantly take them off the shelves, sometimes even before the sell-by date. As it turns out, companies get worried when the stores don’t discard as much food, as it is seen as the store being under-stocked, thus customers aren’t getting what they want. This event ends with the companies ordering mass amounts of food with the expectation that products will always be available and customers won’t feel the need to run to competitors. This event happens in restaurants as well. Whatever food is leftover, sent back, unused, or unpopular gets thrown out, even if untouched or perfectly edible. The amount of food wasted doesn’t cross the minds of the higher ups, and they continue to treat customers with massive plates of food. These careless decisions have significant consequences. When loads of food are thrown out, it ends up in landfills, and as it all lays, there, it begins to produce methane, a greenhouse gas with high global warming potential. Food waste also depletes us of resources used to make these foods available. About a quarter of water and cropland in the U.S. is wasted. “When we toss food, we are not just wasting calories; were also squandering the energy used to grow crops and raise cattle, as well as the energy required to ship, refrigerate, and package food” (Outrider staff, n.d., p. 5). All irrational decisions made about food are doing so much damage though it is incredibly easy to fix, therefore the title, ‘The Dumbest Environmental Problem’, is fairly accurate.

We Can Help

The significant effects on our environment are no longer going unnoticed. New ideas are being put into place to avoid worsening this damage. In the past few years, different places around the world are stepping up – in France, stores are no longer allowed to toss edible food, and in South Korea, people must separate their food from their trash so they can keep landfills food-free. Though these rules may not work well in the U.S., we still are finding ways of cutting down. Some states are actually restricting the amount of food waste to be sent to landfills, and many businesses are working to lessen the amount of food wasted on their part. The Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency are striving to cut food waste in half by 2030. Organizations such as Feeding America, Food Finders, and City Harvest try to collect as much excess food as possible, donating much of it so food banks and making it available to those in need. Some businesses are opening up to the idea of donating their excess food, limiting their waste, and changing their elimination processes. Some stores have opened solely for the purpose of selling misshaped, discolored, weird produce that wouldn’t sell in most grocery stores. Since opening, around 40 million pounds of produce has been saved by these ugly markets. “If we could scale these solutions, the food wed save could feed millions of hungry people, conserve resources, and make a big dent in one of the biggest sources of climate change” (Outrider staff, n.d., p.14).

Discussion

Food waste is a high- priority problem, as it depletes our environment of resources and greatly contributes to climate change. The worst part about this problem is that, compared to other environmental problems, this one is particularly easy, and can be solved in quite a few different ways. Businesses should be changing their food elimination process to produce less waste, as well as order enough food without going far beyond what is necessary. Even if the amount of waste isn’t decreased much, donating the excess to local food banks would provide a large amount of people in need with food, and limit the amount that would end up in landfills. This holds true for common households as well. People need to accept that the decision made about food are harmful and can continue to cause much damage if nothing changes.

Food wastage is becoming a problem due to people adversely disposing food and the demographic who are partaking in the process of food waste are people such as categories of including supermarkets cafes restaurants, and other food associated industries. The reason for the increasing issue in food wastage is a result of people disposing of food which they find boring/not satisfying, perhaps not consuming food before the expiry date and mishandling of ingredients when preparing dishes (Foodbank, 2020).

The consequences of wasting food resources as such, can lead to dire outcomes where it increases greenhouse gas emissions and leading to more rubbish and pollution. Another significant problem which can arise is food insecurity for those who are less fortunate. “Today, an estimated one-third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste. That’s equal to about 1.3 billion tons of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, and grains that either never leave the farm, get lost or spoiled during distribution, or are thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens. It could be enough calories to feed every undernourished person on the planet” (Robert, 2020).

The problem of food wastage has become more evident in the face of many struggling families and individuals. “When asked to estimate an average household’s food waste over a year, 32% estimated more than $1000, while 21% were unsure. The average estimate was $1645.64” (NSW EPA, 2018).

Food security is very important to the physiological wellbeing of people as such make cause feelings of anxiety of fear and sadness. This may also decrease in personal happiness and morale. Further consequences might be drop in productivity for individuals at work or in school.

Global Food Waste

Food wastage has affected on a global level not only Australia and therefore, it has sparked an ongoing debate on how financially and environmentally devastating it is on the Australian economy: “There is enough food produced in the world to feed everyone. One third of all food produced is lost or wasted – around 1.3 billion tons of food –costing the global economy close to $940 billion each year. Throwing away one burger wastes the same amount of water as a 90-minute shower” (Ozharvest, 2020). Once again this is not a food insecurity issue but rather a food wastage issue due to people simply misappropriating food resources such as over buying and not using and not being able to consume products within a timely manner. Certain production companies have a capacity to meet the supply and demand equilibrium. Food is distributed both domestic and on a global level. The supply chain also plays a very important part not only in the distribution side of things but also in the waste management sector. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals set food waste reduction target the global food waste to the half per capita by 2030. This strategy has been negotiated and spanned over two years coming to an outcome that features 17 new sustainable development goals that aim to end poverty, promote success and people’s well-being and decreasing the food wastage overall by 2030 (UN Environment, 2020).

Sustainable Practices

In progressing in the direction of a progressively viable world with less sustenance waste, many other countries and organizations shows initiative to practice in achieving a halve overall global waste. However, Denmark has a reputation in being European leading champion when it comes to food waste reduction, Denmark has diminished its food waste by an expected 25% in the previous 5 years. This extraordinary accomplishment is generally down to an adjustment in individuals’ mindset and conduct. Another incentive that was put into place was that there were shops who resale food before it’s expiry date. The other options seen was to sell imperfect products and coming closer to the expiry date for a lower cost. The result of these options is to see consumers more educated and see a more positive changed behavior from the devastating effects from food wastage. Another audit for the best exercise with respect to wastage of food was started by the English government. In the time of 2000, they built up a program that concentrated on teaching purchasers in changing their propensities in lessening their food waste in their day-by-day life. Moreover, supported the program various partners to take activities through understandings. The program likewise has incredible spotlight on the retailer business a particularly Tesco. Tesco has created many waste administrations rehearses dependent on the accompanying stages. Distinguish the sources for food wastage, measure the waste, set objectives and follow up on this by creating imaginative arrangements. To apply to these objectives Tesco has define certain objectives, for example, split their food waste in activities by 2030. To have such a huge food retailer being the leader of bringing down their food waste consumption, is significant in battling the issue. “Tesco has slashed food waste by 17% one year’ news has been released that it wasted 17% less food in a 12-month period from 12-month period. When managing food wastage at retailers, there are different practices that are possible. The first step should be decreasing the product stock at each of day especially fresh produced goods as they’re more susceptible to expire earlier and educating people with the practice to be aware of food waste” (Edie, 2020).

Solutions in Logistics and Supply Chain

Logistics and supply chain management is very crucial to ensuring the success of combating food wastage. Primary food waste occurs heavily during the downstream process. This process is particularly important as it deals with the initial stage of ensuring information between clients and goods are exchanged accordingly. As mentioned earlier, the expiry dates and associated failure with predicting customer trends and selling them within a set timeframe, which can often be misjudged, does lead to the products ending up in wastage. “This corresponds to about one third of global food production. 198 million hectares of land are cultivated with food that we ultimately do not consume – roughly the size of Mexico! In Germany, too, many foods are thrown away: Over 18 million tons and thus more than a third of current food consumption ends up in the garbage bin every year. At 44 percent, fruit and vegetables account for almost half of our food waste” (IFT, 2020).

By examining various trends, it can be understood that such an issue is not always something that manufacturers and retailers selling the products can evade from. An alternative means of reducing the effects of food waste is to put in place mechanisms to have products donated to food charity organizations. There are organizations such as Food Bank Australia, which is also an international food charity organization that is very effective at coordinating and making use of discarded products and making them available. “Foodbank is Australia’s largest food relief organization, operating on a scale that makes it crucial to the work of the front-line charities who are feeding vulnerable Australians. Foodbank provides more than 70% of the food rescued for food relief organizations nation-wide” (Foodbank, 2020).

Another means of reducing food waste at the retailer level is to slash various prices where appropriate and sell them for cheaper. Most of the time, this is due to products nearly their expiry dates, and therefore, it is better to sell it for cheap rather than lose out on not selling the product. Therefore, food waste is reduced by doing this strategy. Various evidence indicates that this can work across various countries if followed accordingly to the plan.

Aspects of inventory and quality control also is vital to managing the problem of food waste. Logistics side of logistics and supply chain management is very important as it can help to settle the food wastage problem. Supply and demand can be met if provided under the right circumstances. Hence why it is significant for manufacturers and retailers to work together effectively to control the appropriate numbers and levels of stock to be used and sold as soon as possible.

Different Types of Technologies

Advanced technologies can greatly assist companies to ensure to the best of their abilities that they can appropriately coordinate the arrival, then processing and subsequent dispatching of goods and related products for delivery and arrival at the appropriate stores and retailers. There are several technological programs and measures that can are used such as process automation in the warehouse basically a scanner which tracks items and operation in the warehouse. Another one is augmented reality which is when incorporating voices and vision to capture warehouse presumption this assures picked the right item. Also, one technological software’s that’s needs to mentioned which is cloud for compliance this is where cloud-based compliance technology can reduce compliance by 70 percent among new suppliers within the first six months (Food Logistics, 2020).

By using such available technological resources, this helps to manage the process better and potentially decrease the risk of losing track of and ultimately jeopardizing the delivery of products to the right places.

Conclusion

The issue of food waste has been shown to have strong impacts on a local, national and global scale. As found, food waste is often a result of products being manufactured and sent off to retailers for sale. Best practices are a vital matter that needs to be considered as it is where governments and major companies have to implement various strategies to help reduce the issue of food waste. There is the potential to make a lot of changes and reduce the unnecessary wastages and losses that occur. Another issue is the importance of logistics and supply chain management. It was concluded that the downstream phase of the supply chain was very crucial as it is the stage where clients, their goods, and connection to customers are smoothly connected with. Also, superior technologies can serve to meet high demands for supply and management, ensuring goods sent out by manufacturers arrive at their destinations correctly and in turn, to the destinations of the retailers correctly. Food waste is a widespread problem, but it can be reduced by following the right protocols and strategies to ensure more success of managing this issue.

References

1. Edie 2020. Tesco Slashes Food Waste by 17% in One Year. [online]. Accessed 15 April 2020.
2. EPA NSW 2020. [online]. Accessed 11 April 2020.
3. FareShare. 2020. Fareshare. [online] Accessed 11 April 2020.
4. Food Logistics. 2020. How Technology Is Transforming the Food Supply Chain. [online]. Accessed 11 April 2020.
5. Foodbank 2020. [online]. Accessed 10 April 2020.
6. Gheoldus, M., 2020. The UN Sustainable Development Goals Set Food Waste Reduction Target. [online] Eu-fusions.org. Accessed 11 April 2020.
7. IFT.org. 2020. Consumer Research on Sustainable Eating and Food Waste – IFT.Org. [online]. Accessed 18 April 2020.
8. Parliament 2020. [online]. Accessed 13 April 2020.
9. Thelwell, K., 2020. Fighting Food Waste in Denmark | The Borgen Project. [online] The Borgen Project. Accessed 9 April 2020.
10. UN Environment 2020. SDG Food Waste Index [online]. Accessed 01 May 2020.
11. Food Waste Facts – Oz Harvest. [online] Oz Harvest. Accessed 7 April 2020.
12. World Wildlife Fund. 2020. Fight Climate Change by Preventing Food Waste. [online]. Accessed 7 April 2020.
13. 1millionwomen.com.au. 2020. Understanding Food Expiration Dates to Reduce Food Waste | 1 Million Women. [online]. Accessed 5 April 2020.

Hong Kong is a city with a population of about 7.1 million people and a popular dining culture. With various kinds of restaurants, from different local and traditional cuisines to international special tasting, people do not only enjoy the different flavors of food but as well waste a lot of it, 1/3 of solid waste is food in Hong Kong.

It is a common traditional practice among Chinese people such as having gatherings at the round table with families and friends filled with plates and plates of food especially during occasions such as weddings, the Chinese New Year and so on. People will order more food than the average number of people seated at the table because of traditional thoughts, ‘The more food, the better’ for a better image of themselves.

This reason being of the reasons to food wastage in Hong Kong is why about 3,200 tons of food are sent to landfills every day making it the size of 120 double decker buses. The commercial and industrial food waste has doubled in recent years in Hong Kong, as well especially fast food chains, such as the ‘head’ of the fast food, McDonald’s. Supermarkets dispose about 29 tones edible food per day. Because of all this food wastage being sent to the landfills, the remaining capacities of Hong Kong’s three landfills will be exhausted by this year, 2018. Since food wastage is the third-greatest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. In Hong Kong, the food wasted goes to landfills, and the decomposition of this organic waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

Affecting Hong Kong

In 2012, there were 9,278 tons of food disposed of at landfills each day. Of these, about 3,337 tones (36%) were food waste, constituting the largest category being landfilled. Among the food waste disposed of daily, some 809 tons were generated from commercial and industrial sources such as restaurants, hotels, wet markets, food production and processing industries. In recent years, the amount of food waste arising has increased steadily from less than 400 tons per day in 2002 to over 800 tons per day till 2012 and the trend is still rising. Not only is the food being wasted but the landfills in Hong Kong are also being affected at the same time as land is limited in Hong Kong for landfills, and there is already problem with landfills in Hong Kong. By wasting food, we are also throwing in the trash all these natural and economic resources. It means also that by saving food, we are saving biodiversity, given that uneaten food vainly utilizes land that could have been preserved.

Government Policies and Quotes

To tackle with the food wastage problem in Hong Kong, the government had set up a plan called ‘A Food Waste & Yard Waste Plan for Hong Kong 2014-2022’. It is a blueprint on food and yard waste which articulates Hong Kong’s stance with respect to organic waste and how the Government is tackling the issue in the coming years. The plan will help reduce the per capita municipal solid waste disposal rate and encourages citizens in Hong Kong who go to work, school or are at home to work hard to reduce the daily waste.

The now Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam said: “One of my responsibilities in this term of government is to provide steer to the environment bureau in the overall mainstreaming of organic waste reduction and treatment. The Steering Committee to Promote Sustainable Development of the Recycling Industry that I chair, among other duties, provides an internal platform to align more effectively the work of government departments in waste management, including the management of organic waste”.

To make the plan even more effective, the strategy for food waste had four main components known as mobilizing the community by preventing and reducing food waste at source before food become waste and to donate surplus food to people. To promote food waste separation by incentivizing separation, by recycling and treating separated food waste by turning food waste into renewable energy and converting food waste residue to compost to create a soil supplement and finally by treating non-separated food waste and final disposal by providing waste-to-energy treatment that includes non-separated food waste for recovery of energy and disposal as last resort at landfills.

Recommendations

Education is a very important key step to promote knowledge and teach others about the problems around us, just like food wastage. The main target audience for education should be children and teenagers since adults and the elderly do not go to schools nor have a lot of time to pay attention to these problems.

Because of the young generation, they can learn, work together, share with their friends and family members at home who will also learn from them since learning has no age. By this, the awareness of food wastage can be spread and everyone can work together by taking a small step and making it into a big one.

Also, advertisements, leaflets and banners can be hung around in the public, streets and parks to grab the public’s attention. They can be hung and promotes under residential buildings. By this, more and more people can learn and work together.

Conclusion

Food waste is an urgent matter that requires everyone’s attention. The Hong Kong government has realized the seriousness of food waste and has taken actions to fix the problem. How schools are assisted and some programs for reducing food waste in Hong Kong were discussed in this entry. The government, schools, and other institutions and individuals can do much more to address this issue.

The negative externalities that arise from food waste justify government intervention to correct this market failure. Negative externalities occur when external costs of an economic transaction are not reflected in the price (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). An oversupply of food leads to the inefficient use of scarce natural resources, the release of carbon dioxide as food decomposes in landfill, forgone savings and ethical concerns when food could have been diverted (Reynolds et al., 2014). The Australian Government (2017) estimated that food waste costs Australia $20 billion annually and Reynolds et al. (2014) hypothesized that Australia’s avoidable food waste could feed 921,000 people annually. Even if the wasted food was incinerated to avoid greenhouses gas release in landfill, the resources that went into the food’s production are wasted. This result is Pareto-inefficient as parties unrelated to the transaction bear the environmental costs of wastage, making them worse off. Excessive food production causes an inefficient allocation of resources because the marginal social cost is higher than the marginal private cost of food production. As the price of food does not adequately represent the true social cost, government intervention is required to remedy this market failure (Kehlbacher, Tiffin, Briggs, Berners-Lee & Scarborough, 2016).

Cause of Production Food Waste: Overstocking

A well-documented trend across developed countries is that consumer attitudes and behaviors are the largest direct and indirect cause of food inefficiency, causing 40% of food wastage in high-income countries (Rutten, 2013). The Australian Government (2019) has reported that this trend extends to Australia, with 62% of food waste being generated by households and the remaining 32% being produced by the commercial sector (RMIT, 2013). Retailers suffer when shelves are not fully stocking or unaesthetic food is sold, as this decreases consumer demand and therefore profit (Thyberg & Tonjes, 2016). Therefore, large amounts of food waste occur due to retailers overstocking stores in order to meet consumer preference for a diversity of products.

Reducing Production Waste Through Regulation

Regulatory approaches by abandoning VAT liability have been implemented in various countries such as France, Italy and Germany, in an attempt to increase food donation and hence decrease the amount of food wasted. However, tax exemptions have been found to increase waste when compared to VAT donation imposing countries, such as Australia (Chalak, Abou-Daher & Abiad, 2018). This is because regulations fail to target the underlying factors causing wasteful behavior and instead incentivize the creation of food wastage (Facchini, Iacovidou, Gronow & Voulvoulis, 2018). Rutten (2013) explains that the type of government intervention required depends critically on the factors that cause them and therefore, the drivers of food wastage should underpin policy recommendations. As legal initiatives have been found to be counterproductive, fiscal measures should instead be used to reduce food wastage for producers.

Solution: Reducing Production Waste Through Taxation

Food waste literature states that governments should instead use taxation as a tool to correct the negative externalities by ensuring food prices reflect their environmental costs (Schanes, Dobernig & Gozet, 2018). The introduction of a food waste disposal tax equal to the economic cost of the externality will force retailers to internalize the externality and increase the price. Taxation of food waste causes the costs to exceed the benefits, effectively decreasing wastage whilst raising revenues for other initiatives. As food prices are relatively inelastic, with elasticities ranging from 0.27 to 0.81, the consumer is expected to bear the burden of the tax. By targeting the cause of producer food waste, it is expected that this will effectively alter producer, and in effect consumer behavior (Andreyeva, Long & Brownell, 2010). Evans (2014) suggests that decreasing low-price package bundling of perishable food would also allow consumers to select the exact amount of food required to limit over-purchasing. However, studies regarding tax implementation in United Kingdom have shown that whilst fiscal measures have resulted in a significant decrease food wastage at the retailer level, the opposite effect occurred at the consumer level (Kehlbacher et al., 2016). Promotions such as buy-one get-one incentivize consumers to over-purchase, transferring the waste from the retailer to the consumer (Calvo-Porral, Medín & Losada-López, 2016). Therefore, whilst taxation has been found to be more effective at reducing producer waste behavior, another policy is required to target consumer waste prevention.

Cause of Household Food Waste: Information Failure

Food waste at the consumer level is mainly caused by a lack of knowledge regarding the negative externalities. For example, 66% of consumers thought switching off lights had a greater impact that reducing food waste (Linder, Lindahl & Borgstrom, 2018). Thyberg & Tonjes (2016) suggest that globalization and diet changes have caused consumers to become disconnected from food production, which has led to higher household food waste. This is extenuated due to Australia’s weak food culture which emphasizes abundance and quantity over moderation and quality. Further, consumer aesthetic preferences cause an estimated 30% of crops to be left in the field because of their failure to meet appearance standards (Aschemann-Witzel, De Hooge & Normann, 2016). Environmental concerns have been found to be relatively weak motivations to reduce wasteful behavior with motivations of guilt and shame instead being found to be crucial (Jagau & Vyrastekova, 2017). Due to wasteful consumer preferences and weak reduction motivations, effective policies should aim to educate consumers on the environmental effect of food waste by using social motivations.

Reducing Household Waste Through Information Campaigns

Information based campaigns are often cited as the most effective way to encourage behavioral changes, with one study suggesting that awareness movements reduce food waste by 21.3% on average (Chalak, Abou-Daher & Abiad, 2018). The United Kingdom’s ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ initiative superficially supports this statement, where increased consumer awareness through nationwide education resulted in a reported 21% decrease in food waste over a 5-year period (Yamakawa, Williams, Shaw & Watanabe, 2017). However, high-cost campaigns assume consumer rationality and that the reduction is caused by the response of unbiased consumers with perfect cognitive abilities and willpower to the negative externality information (Linder, Lindahl & Borgstrom, 2018). However, this assumption contradicts the weak environmental based motivations discussed above meaning the campaign’s success was more likely to be due to societal pressures. Whilst information policies are effective, the effects of psychological biases, such as the gap between reduction attitudes and actual reduction behavior, require policy makers to consider social approaches to alter behaviors rather than rational individual methods.

Reducing Household Waste Through Taxation

Behavioral interventions are often used to complement or improve the effectiveness of fiscal administration (Linder, Lindahl & Borgstrom, 2018). However, for the Australian household situation, where waste is difficult to monitor and enforce, it is the main strategy to reduce food waste. Reynolds et al. (2014) found that Australian households informally dispose of 2.6kg of food waste per week, meaning 20% of household waste is unreported and invisible to policy makers. This data is supported by a study on households in the United Kingdom, who informally disposed of 30-36% of food waste (Reynolds et al., 2014). Fiscal measures such as household disposal taxes in the UK were also found to disproportionately target low socio-economic households (Kehlbacher et al., 2016). Kehlbacher et al. (2016) further found that taxes caused unintended health consequences when families switched from nutritional high-waste products to low-waste products to avoid the tax. Therefore, a disposal taxes will not adequately or equitably encapsulate food waste in Australian households, further arguing why behavioral economic approaches are required at the household level.

Solution: Reducing Household Waste Through Behavioral Nudges

Behavioral nudges such as choice architecture can be used to reduce food waste by manipulating consumer behavior (Segrè, Falasconi, Politano & Vittuari, 2014). This strategy recognizes that consumers have imperfect willpower and bounded self-interest which deviates from the neoclassical assumptions of consumer rationality and effectively uses the underlying factors to solve the problem. By targeting consumer motivations, descriptive strategies such as publishing the waste behaviors of neighboring households and societal averages effectively decrease food wastage by activating social norms (Wansink, 2018). Signals of insufficient efforts effectively invoke guilt and have been found to be more effective at invoking awareness than normative messages of money saving and environmental protection (Linder, Lindahl & Borgstrom, 2018). Policy makers should therefore take into account how low-cost nudges can effectively achieve food waste reduction by framing consumer motivations.

Earlier food waste studies hypothesized that the misuse of descriptive norms would generate unintended backlash effects, increasing the food waste behavior that the intervention aimed to prevent (Cialdini, 2003). However, support for this strategy is found in that food waste nudging interventions have already effectively reduced restaurant food wastage. A behavioral nudge of a 1cm reduction in plate size reduced consumer food waste by 19.5% in restaurants (Kallbekken & Saelen, 2013). Supporting this, a cross country analysis of 44 countries found that regulatory frameworks and fiscal incentives have limited value in reducing food waste at the household level (Chalak, Abou-Daher & Abiad, 2018). Therefore, behavioral nudges are recommended rather than taxation and information campaigns as a low-cost effective policy to alter consumer behavior.

Cause of Food Waste: Information Asymmetry

The last market failure to be discussed arises due to information asymmetries, which create an imbalance of power between producers and consumers. Only 37% of consumers understand the difference between ‘use-by’ which explains food safety and ‘best-before’ which explains food quality (Parker, 2018). The best-before label intends to notify consumers of the product’s optimal flavor period but has instead caused ill-informed consumers to throw out edible food. Despite the Australian Food Standards Code only requiring best-before labels to be placed on food products that will expire within two years, retailers often chose to add these labels on products with longer shelf lives, leading to increased profits from further confusion and waste (RMIT, 2013). Consumers are not motivated to screen the food, often using the label as a cognitive rule of thumb due to perceived health risks of consuming expired food and a lack of expertise (RMIT, 2013). Due to an imbalance in information between producers and consumers, the market is inefficient and government intervention is justified to decrease food waste.

Solution: Reducing Waste Through Labelling Regulation

Labelling improvements therefore represent a significant opportunity for food waste reduction. The Centre for Design and Sustainability at RMIT University (2013) suggests that the Australian government can reduce best-before date labels by regulating against safe foods being labelled. The effects would be similar to the UK’s biggest supermarket chain successfully removing best-before dates in May 2018 which resulted in 53% of shoppers reporting that they kept the food for longer (BBC News, 2018). Calvo-Porral, Medín and Losada-López (2016) also report that other retailers in the UK have replaced these stickers with ‘best-kept’ stickers, nudging consumers to store food in the way that increases preservation. Perceived consumer control and shifting informational power back to the consumer has been found to be more important than minimal food waste intentions (Schanes, Dobernig & Gozet, 2018). Therefore, similar to the behavioral nudges’ discussion, labelling regulation is expected to effectively reduce, if not remove information asymmetries between consumers and retailers in relation to packaging waste and is therefore recommended to correct this market failure.

Conclusion

Waste prevention and achievement of SDG 12.3 requires changes in behavior for the collective and the individual. During this essay, taxation at the producer level was recommended to encapsulate the cost of negative externalities. Behavioral nudges were found to be the most cost and impact effective policy to increase consumer awareness, when compared to information campaigns and household taxation. Thirdly, labelling regulation was recommended as the solution for asymmetric information. Due to the issue’s complexity and the related socio-economic impacts, the underlying reasons for food waste were investigated and accordingly, a mix of policy measures were recommended for waste prevention to be achieved.