TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimating informal household food waste in developed countries: the case of Australia
AU - Reynolds, Christian
AU - Mavrakis, Vicki
AU - Davison, S
AU - Hoj, Stine
AU - Vlaholias, Elisha
AU - Sharp, Anne
AU - Thompson, K
AU - Ward, Paul
AU - Coveney, John
AU - Piantadosi, Julia
AU - Boland, John
AU - Dawson, Drew
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Food waste is a global problem. In Australia alone, it is estimated that households throw away AU$5.2 billion worth of food (AU$616 per household) each year. Developed countries have formal waste management systems that provide measures of food waste. However, much remains unknown about informal food waste disposal routes and volumes outside of the formal system. This article provides indicative metrics of informal food waste by identifying, in detail, five of the dominant informal food waste disposal routes used by Australian households: home composting, feeding scraps to pets, sewer disposal, giving to charity, and dumping or incineration. Informal waste generation rates are then calculated from three primary data sources, in addition to data from previous Australian and UK surveys, using a weighted average method in conjunction with a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find that the average Australian household disposes of 2.6 kgs of food waste per week through informal routes (1.7 kgs via household composting, 0.2 kgs via animals, and 0.6 kgs via sewage). This represents 20% of Australian household food waste flows. Our results highlight that informal food waste is a sizable food waste flow from Australian homes, deserving of greater research and government attention. Our examination of the full extent of food waste by disposal mode provides waste managers and policy makers with clear disposal routes to target for behaviour change and positive environmental outcomes.
AB - Food waste is a global problem. In Australia alone, it is estimated that households throw away AU$5.2 billion worth of food (AU$616 per household) each year. Developed countries have formal waste management systems that provide measures of food waste. However, much remains unknown about informal food waste disposal routes and volumes outside of the formal system. This article provides indicative metrics of informal food waste by identifying, in detail, five of the dominant informal food waste disposal routes used by Australian households: home composting, feeding scraps to pets, sewer disposal, giving to charity, and dumping or incineration. Informal waste generation rates are then calculated from three primary data sources, in addition to data from previous Australian and UK surveys, using a weighted average method in conjunction with a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find that the average Australian household disposes of 2.6 kgs of food waste per week through informal routes (1.7 kgs via household composting, 0.2 kgs via animals, and 0.6 kgs via sewage). This represents 20% of Australian household food waste flows. Our results highlight that informal food waste is a sizable food waste flow from Australian homes, deserving of greater research and government attention. Our examination of the full extent of food waste by disposal mode provides waste managers and policy makers with clear disposal routes to target for behaviour change and positive environmental outcomes.
KW - domestic
KW - food waste
KW - household
KW - Informal
KW - sustainability
KW - waste management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84914181001&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0734242X14549797
DO - 10.1177/0734242X14549797
M3 - Article
SN - 0734-242X
VL - 32
SP - 1254
EP - 1258
JO - WASTE MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH
JF - WASTE MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH
IS - 12
ER -