A New Approach to Measuring Household Food Waste and Strategies for Sustainable Prevention: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Household Food waste is a pressing global issue, with approximately one-third of food produced wasted annually, leading to economic losses, and environmental degradation. This paper examines the challenges of measuring household food waste, current methodologies, and proposes a novel quantification approach to address existing limitations. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 aims to cut up per capita food waste by 2030, necessitating accurate measurement to inform effective policies. However, inconsistencies in definitions, fragmented data, and methodological discrepancies hinder reliable estimates, with global food waste estimates ranging from 10% to 50%. Current measurement methods include top-down approaches, self-reporting, and direct measurements. Each method has strengths, such as extensive data access in top-down approaches, but faces challenges like inaccuracy in self-reports due to social desirability bias or logistical issues in physical surveys, including waste degradation and sampling shared bins. A proposed method focuses on daily doorstep waste collection from individual households, minimizing degradation, side flows, and time gaps between disposal and sorting. This approach enhances accuracy by preserving waste composition and linking waste to its source, facilitating behavioral studies. The paper also explores environmental impacts, such as methane emissions from landfilled food waste, and socio-economic drivers like industrialization, urbanization, and cultural attitudes. Effective food waste prevention requires multifaceted policies addressing values, skills, and logistics, tailored to diverse communities. Improved measurement and prevention strategies are critical for sustainable food systems and global food security.