Socioeconomic Relations of Food Waste in Selected European Countries

Abstract

The present paper deals with the issue of food waste in selected European countries, in which we have tried to analyze the socioeconomic rations. The main aim of our research was to analyze food waste quantity and compare the amount of wasted food in European Union countries (except Cyprus due to the unavailability of food waste data). The analysis was based on a dataset provided through the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the UN environment program and complemented by socioeconomic variables obtained from EUROSTAT. For a deeper analyses of the obtained results, we formulated three assumptions, which have been tested with the use of several statistical methods—Pearson’s correlation coefficient, linear regression, the distance from a fictitious object method, and hierarchical clustering. Our results show that the amount of food wasted in different sectors (retail, food, households) is not correlated, and any of the analyzed socioeconomic variables do not influence the ranking of countries by the crucial variable.

Innovation Activities to Reduce Food Losses and Food Waste in the Slovak Republic

“…Quantification of food losses and food waste. The Plan for preventing food waste in the Slovak Republic states that there is currently no harmonized and reliable method for measuring the amount of spoiled food in the Slovak Republic or the EU; therefore, it is difficult to assess the extent, origin and trends of the impact (Tkáč et al, 2022). It follows that without quantification of food losses, food waste, and the place of origin of their origin in the Slovak Republic, it is not possible to identify the main causes of food waste and propose measures for their elimination, or minimization.…”

Socioeconomic Impacts of Food Waste Reduction in the European Union

“…While this does not reflect the actual potential for reducing food waste, it allows for a better assessment of the value of wasted food. As with food waste estimations [34], the actual potential of food waste reduction depends on the area considered and various local circumstances. A case study on Italian pasta production shows that it is already in line with circular economy principles as just a little part of food is lost during its production.…”

Applications of atmospheric cold plasma in agricultural, medical, and bioprocessing industries

“…An annual average of 1.3 billion tons of food waste reflects an inefficient utilization of global resources and hence the need to develop a more efficient management method (Tkáč et al 2022 ). Food waste is defined by UN Environmental Program as any food parts that undergo through every process of the food supply chain, but still do not get consumed and are thus discarded, which are subsequently left to spoil or expire (UNEP 2021 ).…”