Reduced food waste

In Sweden, food waste from grocery stores amounts to 100,000 tons per year, the second largest in generating food waste, after private households. One of the causes of avoidable food waste in grocery stores is the lack of measures taken to separate edible food and packaging. For example, if one item in a packaged bundle is damaged or spoilt, the whole package is thrown away, even if the other items might be edible. This issue was raised at a stakeholder meeting in May 2022, wherein it was noted that some stores try to resolve this by selling the products one by one or by weight, however not enough stores are doing this. This is because, among other challenges, the solutions are seen as an activity for environmental causes and not necessarily as economic benefit. The stakeholders highlighted that the implementation of mitigation measures could be largely expanded if we showcase the economic benefits for the stores. The project's objective is to investigate net economic benefits, climate savings and business models for mitigation measures at grocery stores, to prevent food waste caused specifically due to bundled products. The evaluation will be done based on data collected during test phase of the project. The implications of scaling up the most promising solutions in a national perspective will be estimated. In the long-term, the expectation is that the experiences and results of the project will inspire other grocery stores to implement similar solutions. The results will contribute to Swedish EPA’s knowledge on the cause of food waste, effectiveness in reaching the milestone goals on reduction in food waste, and economic efficiency of the mitigation measures. Investigation and research form the basis of the project, with involvement from relevant stakeholders, as highlighted in The Swedish Action Plan for Reduced Food Waste. The deliverables in this project will support Swedish EPA’s actions to enhance implementation of effective and efficient mitigation measures.

Project Manager: Annelise de Jong, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet AB

Funding: 2 946 294 SEK

Food production is an essential but resource-intensive industry. Data available for Sweden estimates over 133kg of food waste per person per year, and the Swedish Food Agency declares that one of the biggest challenges is that there is no available data about the composition of food waste at households. This is especially concerning in light of national and international sustainability goals which require tools to access data. Therefore, the overall purpose of the current project is to use smart bins as a tool to analyze the composition of household waste. This data will then be used to identify and implement measures that encourage food waste reduction at households. Such knowledge is currently unobtainable but necessary to identify measures and enable tracking of household waste over time. The effectiveness of the interventions and future prospects of smart bins as tools to identify food waste reduction measures will be objectively and rationally disclosed.

Project Manager: Kamran Rousta, University of Borås

Funding: 2 976 591 SEK

Food waste constitutes a serious threat to sustainable development if actions are not taken to significantly reduce it. Although households account for the largest share of food waste, it is unclear which consumer groups actually throw food away. Many consumers report that their contribution is very small, which may be due to ignorance of their own waste and/or the shame of throwing food away. At the same time, there is a widespread belief that certain groups behave in certain ways. However, these beliefs are weakly supported by research. In order to reduce food waste in Swedish households, both insight to who are actually wasting food and information feedback to the households that provides better insight to their own behaviour are required. This project will therefore develop and test to what extent different kinds of feedback on individual food waste quantification mesures influence the behaviour amongst consumers so that they waste less food. In order to evaluate the environmental and economical efficacy of the feedback measures, the project will implement a metodology, supported by digital tools, to quantify food waste with high precision and for a longer period of time. The expected outcome of the project includes both a methodology that can revolutionise how household food waste data is collected, insight to what socio-economical factors influence food wastage and how feedback can be tailored to reach specific target groups as well as an evaluationon how effective these measures are for reducing environmental impact. The results of the project could further be implemented at a larger scale since more simplified measurements also can be used for providing feedback on food waste quantities to households. In that way, this project could help contribute to food waste recution and reduced environmental impact beyond the completion of the project.

Project Manager: Mattias Eriksson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Funding: 3 000 000 SEK

Senior Research Officer: Patrik Lindenfors
+46-10-698 18 56
patrik.lindenfors@naturvardsverket.se

Senior Research Officer: Hannah Östergård Roswall
+46-10-698 16 81
hannah.ostergard.roswall@naturvardsverket.se