Food waste in the Finnish food chain

Highlights

• Around 130 million kilograms of food waste is generated each year (23 kg per capita/year) from the household sector.

• Annually discarded food from Finnish households is approximately equal to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 100,000 cars.

• At the national level Finnish households discard food of value €400–550 million annually.

• Altogether, households, restaurants, food industry and retails produce 335–460 million kilograms of food waste in Finland per year.

• The total climate impact of food waste was approximately 1000 million kilograms of CO₂-equivalent per year.

Abstract

This study focused on mapping the volume and composition of avoidable food waste in the Finnish food production–consumption chain, and demonstrated that around 130 million kg of food waste are generated each year (23 kg per capita/year) from the household sector. Most of the discarded food was fresh and perishable, or leftovers from cooking and dining. Converted into greenhouse gases, the food discarded annually from Finnish households is approximately equal to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 100,000 cars. The annual economic value of household food waste is about €70 per person. In the food service sector, the amount of waste ranged from 7% to 28% for cooked food, depending on restaurant type. In the entire sector it was estimated to be 75 to 85 million kg per year. Food waste was estimated to be 65–75 million kg per year in the retail sector. The entire food industry was estimated to produce around 75–140 million kg of food waste per year. Altogether, 335–460 million kg of food is avoidably wasted in the Finnish food chain (excluding primary production) per year.

Introduction

Food accounts for over a third of the environmental impact of Finnish consumption. When examining the impact on climate alone, food (agriculture, the food industry, wholesale and retail, restaurants, and household activities) accounts for about a quarter of the climate impact of Finnish consumption, and the impact on the water system is even more pronounced due to eutrophication (Seppälä et al., 2011). Moreover, it is ecologically unsustainable to waste edible food rather than consume it. Improving resource efficiency in the food supply chain and consumption, as well as changing the general diet in Western countries, is vital to ensure future food supply for up to 9 billion people (e.g. Foley et al., 2011).

During recent years, there has been increasing international interest in the amount of food the world wastes. Research has mostly been carried out in Western countries, especially in households, but also in the entire food supply chain and system (e.g. BMELV, 2012, European Commission, 2010, Evans, 2012, Hanssen and Schakenda, 2011, Jones, 2005, Kantor et al., 1997, KFS Konsument Föreningen Stockholm, 2009, Knudsen, 2009, Parfitt et al., 2010, Schneider and Obersteiner, 2007, WRAP, 2008, WRAP, 2009a, WRAP, 2009b, WRAP, 2010). It is argued that globally roughly one-third of food produced is lost or wasted, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tonnes per year (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Therefore, politicians are interested in food waste and are seeking ways to reduce it (e.g. European Commission, 2010).

In most studies, food waste has been explored by conducting waste compositional analyses (e.g. Schneider and Obersteiner, 2007, Watanabe, 2009, WRAP, 2008), i.e. measuring food waste through the analysis of waste streams. A kitchen diary represents a different type of approach where a household member has to measure the amount of food wasted at the point of waste creation. Other food waste approaches include qualitative, guided interviews and the subtraction method, where difference between food purchases and consumption are calculated.

Composition analysis enables objective measurement of food, but barely allows analysis of the reasons behind the disposal of the food. The diary method enables the collection of background data on socio-demographics, behaviour and the attitudes of each household under study, and undertakes statistical analysis of the influences of these factors and reasons for the generation of food waste in different groups of households (Koivupuro et al., 2010, WRAP, 2010).

In Finland there have been no large-scale food waste studies encompassing the entire food supply chain. Only a few limited studies have examined the amount and sources of food waste produced by households, and the number of households involved in the studies has been minimal (Tarvainen, 2009, Koivupuro et al., 2010).

The aim of this paper is to determine the volume of avoidable food waste and its distribution among all parties involved in the Finnish food supply chain. Only the agricultural phase was excluded from the study. The research was specifically targeted at households, but the food service sector, industry and the retail sector were included in the study. At the household level, besides examining the quantity and types of food wasted, the aim was to analyse the reasons for food waste. Thus, for instance, the influences of different socio-demographic, behavioural and attitudinal factors on food waste were examined. The kitchen diary approach was applied to be able to meet these targets. In addition, this paper presents an estimation of the climate impact and economic value of Finnish household food waste.