A Hierarchical Pyramid for Food Waste Based on a Social Innovation Perspective

Lombardi, Mariarosaria; Costantino, Marco Fabio

doi:10.3390/su13094661

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The considered articles mention different food waste recovery strategies ranging from FLW prevention and/or reduction to FLW recycling and reuse (e.g., animal feed, composting, industrial uses such as the production of biogas/biofuel) through food surplus redistribution (donation to food banks, social supermarkets, etc. ), which are strategies contemplated in the food waste management hierarchy ( 37 , 38 ). Ilakovac et al ( 28 ) found that only a small share of the Croatian households feed food leftovers to dogs or cats while many still simply discard leftovers in the bin.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on food loss and waste in the Western Balkans: A systematic review

et al. 2022

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Food losses and waste (FLW) is considered a critical issue in the ongoing debate on the sustainability of agri-food systems. However, the scholarly literature on FLW is still geographically-biased, with more attention devoted to developed countries, even in Europe. In this context, this article analyses the state of research on FLW in the Western Balkan region (viz. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). A search performed in October 2021 on the Web of Science database returned 34 documents, and 21 eligible ones were included in the systematic review. The topical analysis of the literature addressed causes of FLW, stages of the food supply chain, extent and magnitude of FLW, FLW and food security, economic and environmental impacts of FLW, and food waste (FW) management strategies. A central finding was the scarcity of data on FW in the Western Balkans. Moreover, the literature focused on FW at the consumer level, while food loss at other stages of the food chain was generally overlooked. There is a lack of comprehensive analyses of the economic and environmental impacts of FLW as well as its implications in terms of food and nutrition security. The quantification of FLW is generally inaccurate and based on estimates and self-reported data. The literature focuses on FW reuse and recycling (e.g., energy, compost) while other management strategies (e.g., reduction/prevention, redistribution) are rarely addressed. However, the results indicated that consumers in the Western Balkans pay attention to the FW issue, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is an encouraging sign that can be exploited in awareness-raising campaigns and education activities. Meanwhile, research on FLW in the Western Balkans is highly needed to fill the identified knowledge gap and provide evidence to policies dealing with the transition to sustainable food systems in the region.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on food loss and waste in the Western Balkans: A systematic review

et al. 2022

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“…The key for triggering the role of social innovation for reducing FW is to formulate a community that includes a range of AFSC practitioners (e.g. producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers) to achieve synergies through reusing and transforming FW into new materials, nutrients, and energy (Gollnhofer et al, 2019;Lombardi and Costantino, 2021;Spring and Biddhlph, 2020). Only when social actors have built longterm trust relationships with each other can the social innovation be activated (Simone et al, 2017).…”

Section: ■ Food Redistributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing food waste from social innovation perspective: a review of measures, research gaps and future directions

Zhao

Liu

Wang

et al. 2023

IFAM

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Food waste (FW) has been increasingly recognized as a severe environmental, social, and economic problem. Therefore, it should be tackled innovatively by analyzing and synthesizing existing solutions. This study aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of different social innovation measures adopted for reducing FW using a systematic literature review. After locating, collecting, evaluating, and analyzing 50 publications from four databases, we conclude that social innovation activities such as digital food-sharing platforms, social supermarkets, solidarity stores, and food rescue hubs are widely deployed in different FW reduction processes. Based on the findings, we synthesized several research gaps and proposed corresponding future research directions related to research methodology, country, food redistribution, food rescue, food donation, and food sharing. These directions include conducting research to develop suitable key performance indicators to evaluate the performance of digital food-sharing platforms, linking with specific theory to conduct empirical research on partnership analysis regarding social supermarkets, and investigating the structure of multiplex relations among different participants in the food rescue activities using social network analysis. We suggest that more keywords should be scrutinized and included when searching publications in future research as keyword selection is subjective.

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“…Based on environmental sustainability, a waste hierarchy prioritizes waste treatment actions from the most preferred to the least preferred . The EU WFD can be applied to food waste but should be slightly modified to take account of the particularities of food (Lombardi & Costantino, 2021;EU, 2018) .…”

Section: Contribution Of Food Waste Management To the Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of circular economy in food waste management in fulfilling the United Nations’ sustainable development goals

Prokić

Stepanov

Curcic

et al. 2022

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Alimentaria

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Based on the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021, approximately 931 million tons of food waste were generated in 2019, with nearly 570 million tons of that waste occurring in households. Hunger affects more than 800 million people worldwide. Furthermore, the non-consumption of food accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, food waste generation has significant environmental, societal, and economic consequences. The circular economy (CE) is an economic model that seeks to reduce waste and extend resource life. The purpose of this study is to examine and present the connections between the CE, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and food waste management. Food waste management is commonly regarded as an environmental issue. Still, it also offers vital economic and social benefits for sustainable development. The first section of the research looks at the function of food waste management in the transition to a circular economy. The second part of this study examines the SDGs in food waste management and circular economy. The findings revealed that the most significant connections and synergies between food waste management, circular economy practices, and SDG targets could be found in SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Both goals have high scores for direct and indirect contributions.

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A Hierarchical Pyramid for Food Waste Based on a Social Innovation Perspective

Cited by 15 publications

References 69 publications

Research on food loss and waste in the Western Balkans: A systematic review

Research on food loss and waste in the Western Balkans: A systematic review

Reducing food waste from social innovation perspective: a review of measures, research gaps and future directions

The role of circular economy in food waste management in fulfilling the United Nations’ sustainable development goals

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