Summary and conclusions

Forundersøgelse af madspild i Danmark

Food is an essential component of human existence. Not only does it provide nutrients and energy that allow us to grow, develop and remain healthy, the culture and tradition surrounding food also helps define us as individuals, families and nations. Most people are raised with an “eat-up” mentality – a common understanding not to waste food. International research has highlighted however, that the processes of production, distribution, preparation and serving of our food generate significant quantities of food waste that could otherwise have been eaten. This project seeks to uncover what we already know about avoidable food waste in Denmark and identify what further data is required to more accurately assess the potentials for the prevention of avoidable food waste in Denmark.

Avoidable food waste is food that could have been eaten

Food waste is classified in this report as organic waste from the production and preparation of food, discarded food and leftovers. There has been a long-term and extensive discourse on the best way to manage and treat this waste stream; for example, to produce biogas, to compost, or to incinerate with energy recovery. There has, however, been very little focus on how to prevent the initial generation of this waste.

A large fraction of the generated food waste is food that is or was edible before being discarded. As such, there is obvious potential to prevent these foods becoming waste and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering the launch of initiatives to prevent this type of avoidable food waste.

International research indicates that it is possible to prevent a large amount of avoidable food waste from being generated. Avoiding such wastes has the dual benefit of relieving the burden this waste places on the waste management system, and simultaneously means a huge reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the initial production of the wasted food.

This project aims to create an overview of existing Danish and international research on food waste from different actors within the food lifecycle – from initial food processors to the waste bin – and therefore to identify where the largest potentials lie for prevention of avoidable food waste in Denmark. It will also indicate where further research of Danish potential for avoidance is necessary. Furthermore, the project aims to describe Danish legislation concerning food waste and the actions taken to prevent avoidable food waste in Denmark and other countries.

Knowledge about Food Waste and Avoidable Food Waste

The project seeks to identify knowledge and data on food waste and avoidable food waste in Denmark through a review of existing literature and statistics, together with cooperation with relevant organisations. Using both international research and internet resources, this project has created an overview of knowledge from a range of countries. This research has identified five main actors in the food chain: food processors, wholesalers, retailers, commercial and institutional kitchens, and households. Primary agricultural producers are not included in this survey.

Danish Data on Avoidable Food Waste is insufficient

A review of the available data from Denmark indicates some deficiencies. Better and more current data on the amounts of food waste generated by all concerned actors is required, as the existing data is between 8-20 years old, while there is no national data covering food waste from wholesalers at all.

Earlier Danish analysis has not focused on the quantities of waste that can be prevented, which means that they do not include an indication of the quantity of avoidable food waste in Denmark.

There is, therefore, an immediate need for current data on the quantities of food waste and avoidable food waste generated by the five actors identified above. This is especially true for households and commercial and institutional kitchens, where it is essential to analyse the quantities of avoidable food waste to determine the prevention potential.

There is potential to prevent avoidable food waste.

Studies from other countries suggest that there is real potential to prevent the generation of avoidable food waste among all five actors identified above. However, due to the shortage of data on the generation of avoidable food waste from the identified actors, it is very difficult to estimate the potential quantities of avoidable food waste in Denmark.

Food processors are responsible for a large quantity of food waste, but assessments indicate that the percentage of this waste that can be counted as avoidable is small; most of the food waste generated by food processors is inedible. Food waste generated by wholesalers and retailers, it must be supposed, is primarily composed of avoidable food waste, because it is assumed that this waste comprises food that would otherwise have been sold to final consumers. In commercial and institutional kitchens, the share of food waste that can be called avoidable depends on the quantity of pre-prepared food products used during final preparation and the utilization of raw ingredients.

Based on international research, approximately half of the food waste generated by households can be classified as avoidable. This represents a huge quantity of potentially avoidable food waste, and is probably the largest potential saving of the actors investigated. Further, the highest potential for the prevention of avoidable food waste is in fresh fruit, vegetables and bread, in both households and retailers.

There are many actions available.

The research shows that there are many different pieces of legislation that affects food waste and the generation of avoidable food waste outside existing waste legislation.

There are many possible actions that can be used to lower the quantity of generated avoidable food waste from all actors. Many of these actions are based on fostering more efficient utilization of resources, while those household-focused actions implemented in other countries are often rooted in “healthy sense” during purchase, storage and cooking of food.