Quantities, environmental footprints and beliefs associated with household food waste in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The objectives of this research were to identify the quantities and global warming, acidification and eutrophication potentials associated with household food waste in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In parallel, this study investigated perceptions related to food waste and using the quality function deployment for environment model, correlated reasons for discarding food waste and beliefs associated with food waste. Based on this study, it is estimated that around 2.8 kg of food waste is disposed of by the average household every week. Global warming, acidification and eutrophication potentials associated with household food waste are, on average, 3.49 kg CO2e/week, 2.42 g SO2e/week and 8.70 g PO4e/week, respectively. Also, Bosnian households discard over 80 different pieces of food packaging waste weekly, where plastic packaging is the most dominant packing type. The highest ranked reason for discarding food is linked to plate leftovers. In general, Bosnian citizens feel guilty when they waste food.

Download Full-text

Intention to Purchase Active and Intelligent Packaging to Reduce Household Food Waste: Evidence from Italian Consumers

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084486 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4486

Author(s):

Antonella Cammarelle ◽

Rosaria Viscecchia ◽

Francesco Bimbo

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Behavioral Control ◽

Equation Model ◽

Perceived Behavioral Control ◽

Intelligent Packaging ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Household Food ◽

Willingness To Purchase

Innovations in food packaging, such as active and intelligent ones, improve food safety and lower household food waste by extending product shelf life and providing information about food quality, respectively. The consumer adoption of such innovations could contribute to reaching one of the Sustainable Development Goals which calls for halving the per capita global food waste by 2030. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the consumers’ willingness to purchase active and intelligent packaging to reduce household food waste using a sample of 260 Italian consumers and a modified Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model. Using a structural equation model, findings show that respondents are more willing to purchase intelligent packaging rather than active packaging to reduce their wastes at home. Finally, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, awareness, and planning routines are the most important drivers of the intention to reduce household food waste.

Download Full-text

Household food waste in Serbia – Attitudes, quantities and global warming potential

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.400 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 229 ◽

pp. 44-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Ilija Djekic ◽

Zorana Miloradovic ◽

Sofija Djekic ◽

Igor Tomasevic

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Food Waste ◽

Global Warming Potential ◽

Household Food

Download Full-text

“Stay at Home”: The Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Household Food Waste in Colombia

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.764715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Daniela Mejia ◽

Manuel Diaz ◽

Andres Charry ◽

Karen Enciso ◽

Oscar Ramírez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Subjective Norms ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Waste Reduction ◽

Household Food ◽

Relevant Variables ◽

Situational Predictors ◽

And Control ◽

Waste Food ◽

Perceived Behavior

Household food waste represents one of the main challenges for sustainable development as this directly affects the economy of food consumers, the loss of natural resources and generates additional greenhouse gas emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies caused one of the most serious economic crises in recent decades and could become the worst economic crisis that Latin America has had in its history. The objective of this study is to analyze changes in food waste behavior during the COVID-19 lockdown in Colombia in 2020, applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). For this purpose, we conducted a survey with 581 Colombian food consumers, which examined the influence of intentions to not waste food, subjective norms, some situational predictors, questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the control of perceived behavior on food waste. The results suggest that the TPB can predict the intention to not waste food and, through it, the actual household food waste behavior, considering the lockdown in Colombia as an external shock. We observe that regarding the intention to not waste food, the most relevant variables are attitudes, subjective norms, control of the perceived behavior, and concerns regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. These variables increase the probability on average by a 0.8 Odds Ratio that the intention not to waste food increases, too. Regarding food waste behavior, whether it is considered ordinal or nominal, we see that the most relevant variables are intention, financial attitudes, and control of perceived behavior, doubling the probability that food waste behavior will improve. Based on the results, we provide recommendations for interested stakeholders that can help in the design of instruments for household food waste reduction.

Download Full-text

Based on the carbon footprint, how much waste does takeout produce compared with the traditional way

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202130801006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 308 ◽

pp. 01006

Author(s):

Guiling Zhang ◽

Kai Shi

Keyword(s):

Food Consumption ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Food Waste ◽

Food Packaging ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Promotion Strategy ◽

Delivery Services ◽

The Difference ◽

Waste Food

With the development of the Internet and the expansion of online to offline delivery services, takeaway food becomes a part of food consumption. This paper examined the difference between the dine-in and take-out food with a carbon footprint of food waste among 346 people in Jiangsu Province, China, by using the online questionnaire to figure out how much food they may waste in daily meals. Three aspects were researched in the questionnaire: food classification, the quantity of waste food, the waste of takeaway food packaging. The result showed that the waste caused by takeaway is one-third more than the waste caused by dine-in. People might waste more due to the sale promotion strategy of merchants and the discounts they offered. The result also showed that the diversity of food was relative to the waste of rice. The higher the variety was, the more rice people might waste. The environment is damaged by sophisticated packaging due to its difficulty to degrade.

Download Full-text

Food Plastic Packaging Transition towards Circular Bioeconomy: A Systematic Review of Literature

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13073896 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 3896

Author(s):

Macarena Beltran ◽

Benny Tjahjono ◽

Anna Bogush ◽

Jorge Julião ◽

Evandro L. S. Teixeira

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Food Waste ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Review Of Literature ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Transition Path ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Biobased Materials ◽

Plastic Materials

Advancement in packaging technology has played an essential role in reducing food waste and losses; however, most of this technology relies mostly on the use of plastics. Thus, there is an imminent need to think seriously about the transition towards a circular bioeconomy of innovative biobased materials with biodegradability potentials. This paper examines the driving forces behind the changes in food plastic packaging regimes and specifically seeks to understand how socio-technical configurations may influence niches to transition to a circular bioeconomy, particularly biobased biodegradable plastic materials. By employing a systematic review of the literature, we find that coordination with other back-end socio-technical systems that provide valorization of packaging waste is crucial to enable the transition. The literature indicates that one possible transition path is that the biobased biodegradable materials serve as “carriers of food waste”. The paper contributes to the discussion on the dynamics of food packaging in the transition to a bioeconomy viewed through the lenses of a socio-technical system (niche–regime–landscape), which continues to reinforce future actions, leading to better management of packaging end-of-life.

Download Full-text

COVID-19-Related Changes in Perceived Household Food Waste in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18031104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 1104

Author(s):

Kelly Cosgrove ◽

Maricarmen Vizcaino ◽

Christopher Wharton

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Food Waste ◽

The United States ◽

Food Groups ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Household Level ◽

Binomial Logistic Regression ◽

Household Food ◽

Fresh Vegetables

Food waste contributes to adverse environmental and economic outcomes, and substantial food waste occurs at the household level in the US. This study explored perceived household food waste changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and related factors. A total of 946 survey responses from primary household food purchasers were analyzed. Demographic, COVID-19-related household change, and household food waste data were collected in October 2020. Wilcoxon signed-rank was used to assess differences in perceived food waste. A hierarchical binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine whether COVID-19-related lifestyle disruptions and food-related behavior changes increased the likelihood of household food waste. A binomial logistic regression was conducted to explore the contribution of different food groups to the likelihood of increased food waste. Perceived food waste, assessed as the estimated percent of food wasted, decreased significantly during the pandemic (z = −7.47, p < 0.001). Food stockpiling was identified as a predictor of increased overall food waste during the pandemic, and wasting fresh vegetables and frozen foods increased the odds of increased food waste. The results indicate the need to provide education and resources related to food stockpiling and the management of specific food groups during periods of disruption to reduce food waste.

Download Full-text

Sustainable, self-cleaning, transparent, and moisture/oxygen-barrier coating film for food packaging

Green Chemistry ◽

10.1039/d0gc03647a ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vu Thi Tuyet Thuy ◽

Lam Tan Hao ◽

Hyeonyeol Jeon ◽

Jun Mo Koo ◽

Jaeduk Park ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Barrier Function ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Coating Film ◽

Gas Barrier ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Chemical Damage ◽

Barrier Coating ◽

Self Cleaning

Plastic packaging effectively protects food from mechanical, microbial, and chemical damage; however, oxygen and moisture permeate these plastics and spoil the food. Thus, the gas barrier function is usually imparted...

Download Full-text