Elsevier

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 76, 1 August 2014, Pages 106-115
Journal of Cleaner Production

The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.020Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Food waste has significant environmental, social and economic global implications.

  • The food waste hierarchy is proposed for preventing and managing food surplus and waste.

  • Distinction between food surplus and waste is crucial in the food waste hierarchy.

  • The food waste hierarchy also distinguishes between avoidable and unavoidable waste.

  • Food waste can be prevented by reducing food surplus throughout the food supply chain.

Abstract

The unprecedented scale of food waste in global food supply chains is attracting increasing attention due to its environmental, social and economic impacts. Drawing on interviews with food waste specialists, this study construes the boundaries between food surplus and food waste, avoidable and unavoidable food waste, and between waste prevention and waste management. This study suggests that the first step towards a more sustainable resolution of the food waste issue is to adopt a sustainable production and consumption approach and tackle food surplus and waste throughout the global food supply chain. The authors examine the factors that give rise to food waste throughout the food supply chain, and propose a framework to identify and prioritize the most appropriate options for prevention and management of food waste. The proposed framework interprets and applies the waste hierarchy in the context of food waste. It considers the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social), offering a more holistic approach in addressing food waste. Additionally, it considers the materiality and temporality of food. The food waste hierarchy posits that prevention, through minimization of food surplus and avoidable food waste, is the most attractive option. The second most attractive option involves the distribution of food surplus to groups affected by food poverty, followed by the option of converting food waste to animal feed. Although the proposed food waste hierarchy requires a fundamental re-think of the current practices and systems in place, it has the potential to deliver substantial environmental, social and economic benefits.

Introduction

Appropriate waste management is recognised as an essential prerequisite for sustainable development (UNEP., 2011, UNHSP., 2010). Historically, in urban contexts, public waste management focused on removing potentially harmful substances or materials away from human settlements (Wilson et al., 2012, Velis et al., 2009). As the environmental, social and financial implications of unsustainable use of raw materials and growing waste generation in the short and long term became apparent (The Government Office for Science, 2011a, Stern, 2006), waste management began to shift from a mere pollution prevention and control exercise, towards a more holistic approach.

Frameworks and concepts, such as the waste hierarchy (Fig. 3), the ‘3Rs’ (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle), extended producer responsibility, polluter pays principle (Engel et al., 2008), life cycle assessment and Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) (Pires et al., 2011), were introduced and the paradigm of ‘sustainable resource management’ was developed (Barton et al., 1996). Sustainable resource management is grounded on the notion that ‘waste’ can be a ‘resource’ (Bringezu and Bleischwitz, 2009). Restricting resource use to more sustainable levels and applying resource efficiency can effectively reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions linked to climate change, as well as offer other benefits of economic and social nature (Barrett and Scott, 2012, Defra, 2011, WRAP., 2010).

In the evolving waste management field, a waste stream receiving growing attention is food waste. As the scale of food waste's negative environmental, social and economic impacts are becoming more apparent, and global food security is becoming more pressing, food waste is increasingly recognised as being central to a more sustainable resolution of the global waste challenge (EPA., 2012, Defra, 2011, Government of South Australia, 2010). Recognizing the significance of food waste, this study aims to address the following research question: ‘how can food surplus and food waste be managed more sustainably?’

Building on the expertise of food waste specialists, the authors conducted a number of interviews that provide insights into the current practices, future trends, barriers and opportunities for more sustainable management of food surplus and food waste. The key themes that emerged from the interviews inform and shape the development of a comprehensive framework for the management of food surplus and waste throughout the Food Supply Chain(FSC) through the use of Grounded Theory (GT). This framework conceptualizes food waste, and builds on this to interpret and apply the waste hierarchy in the context of food waste. The resulting food waste hierarchy aims to act as a guide in establishing the most appropriate options for dealing with the mounting food waste challenge.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. Sections 2 The global food waste challenge, 3 Concepts in waste management and sustainability provide the context by offering a brief overview of the scale of the food waste challenge, and relevant waste and sustainability concepts. Section 4 presents the methods employed for data collection and analysis. Section 5 provides a discussion on the findings of this study and proposes the food surplus and food waste framework. Finally, the conclusions of this research are presented in Section 6, along with the implications of the study.

Section snippets

The global food waste challenge

In response to concerns over escalating GHG emissions and other environmental impacts associated with food waste (Garnett and Wilkes, 2014), a growing number of national and regional policies identify food waste as a priority waste stream (EPA., 2012, Defra, 2011, Government of South Australia, 2010). Food security is an increasingly pressing global issue (The Government Office for Science, 2011b, UNEP, 2009, FAO, 1981) and it raises questions about the amount of food wasted in the global FSC

Concepts in waste management and sustainability

The waste hierarchy and the concept of sustainable consumption and production provide the theoretical foundation to this study. An overview of these concepts is provided in the section below.

Methods

The authors conducted a number of interviews with food waste specialists that informed and shaped the development of the proposed framework for the management of food surplus and waste throughout the food supply chain. Seven group interviews were conducted with 23 food waste specialists. The group interviews were conducted with individuals from the following organizations: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Waste and Resource Action Program (WRAP), Fareshare,

Findings and discussion

The findings of the study are presented below. The discussion is structured under the three main themes that emerged from the interviews; namely the boundaries between food surplus and food waste, avoidable and unavoidable food waste, waste prevention and waste management.

Conclusions

Food waste is becoming an increasingly important issue at both a local and global level. The GHG emissions from food production and consumption, as well as from its final disposal, depletion of natural resources and pollution are the most prominent environmental impacts associated with food waste. Food waste has economic implications for everyone within the food supply chain, from the farmer to the food producer and the consumer. These include food production and purchasing costs, as well as

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the Southeast Asia Prosperity Fund 2011–2012 grant that financed part of this research. The authors would also like to thank the interviewees and colleagues for their contribution to this research, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their time and effort to improve this publication.

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