DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS

More documents

Recommendations

Info

108 • DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY – A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS 3.2.2 Reduction of avoidable food waste Opportunity: 2035 economic potential: Reduce avoidable food waste by building awareness and knowledge for consumers, leveraging technology and best practices for businesses, and creating markets for second-tier (refused) food. EUR 150-250 million p.a. Key barriers: Sample policy options: Consumer custom and habit; business capabilities and skills; imperfect information; split incentives. Consumer information and education; quantitative food waste targets; capability building; fiscal incentives. A significant opportunity lies in preventing the very generation of organic waste. 145 On average, 35% of food output is wasted along the value chain, and while developed economies like Denmark are comparatively good at reducing waste in food processing, there is a high waste volume generated by end consumers (see Figure 29). Denmark generates an estimated 80–90 kg/capita of avoidable food waste per year. 146 Figure 29: Main sources of food waste in global food value chain – production and consumption Focus of Denmark Pilot Material waste Per cent of total production Developed countries Agriculture 9 91 91 Processing 9 73 82 Retail 4 68 78 6 2803 0006 9 Consumer 12 SOURCE: FAO ‘Global Food Losses and Food Waste – Extent, causes and prevention’, Rome 2011; adapted from Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the circular economy II (2013) For this reason, the opportunity assessment for avoiding waste in the food and beverage sector focuses on the end-consumer-facing part of the value chain (including retail 145 Known as the ‘Lansink’s ladder’, the principle – to avoid waste over reuse, reuse over recycle, recycle over energy recovery, and energy recovery over disposal – has been part of the European Waste Framework Directive since 2008. 146 Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Kortlægning af dagsrenovation i Danmark – Med fokus på etageboliger og madspild (2014).
DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY – A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS • 109 and hospitality). 147 The awareness of this issue has increased rapidly over the past five years, and waste minimisation is now an integral part of the government’s ‘Denmark Without Waste’ strategy. 148 There have already been multiple information and awareness campaigns to reduce food waste among consumers, but much remains to be done. The Danish EPA has estimated that 56% of the food waste generated by households, and 79% on average in the retail and hospitality sectors, is avoidable. 149 Danish households generate approximately 55% of the avoidable food waste, 150 and even if the value lost from discarded food is significant, 151 customers have a tendency to choose convenient solutions. While businesses have spent a long time minimising food waste, there is still large potential for improvement. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR DENMARK Consumers and businesses could save significant value by minimising avoidable food waste. A study by SITRA in Finland found that the savings from reducing food waste would be in the range of EUR 150–200 million annually. 152 Translated to the size of the Danish economy, this corresponds to a prevention of roughly 30–50% (30–40 kg/ capita) of total avoidable food waste, 153 and an estimated saving of EUR 150–250 million annually by 2035. 154 These findings give a directional view of the magnitude of this opportunity for Denmark. They rely by necessity on a number of assumptions, the most important of which are detailed in Appendix B. The savings would be achieved by a number of activities, including: • Right-sizing the shopping basket. Consumers could prevent waste by purchasing less unnecessary ‘big packs’ or ‘3 for 2’ deals, which would seem to save money upfront but could create more waste. A related issue is the practice of paying per unit for fresh produce (the current practice in Denmark, as opposed to paying by weight), which incentivises the consumer to buy the largest item – generating waste both on the consumer side (consumers buy a larger item than they need), and further back in the value chain, as smaller items could get deselected or even wasted without being sold 155 . Restaurants could avoid excess purchases by relentless data tracking and planning, which would require investing in capability building but would not necessarily make procurement more time consuming. • Better knowledge about food preservation. Despite not seeing themselves as ‘food wasters’ 156 , consumers often throw away useful food, either because they prepare too much for a meal, or because they believe the food is spoiled. Date labelling is required on packaged food to protect consumers, but many people throw away food that has passed the date even though it has been well refrigerated or appropriately stored and remains fresh, due to lack of knowledge of what the labelling actually means. This behaviour also affects food retailers, as they 147 While Danish food processing companies are generally regarded as proficient in preventing waste, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency notes that there are still losses from agriculture. Waste prevention in the agricultural sector was not however in the scope of the Denmark pilot. 148 Danish Government, Danmark uden affald II. Strategi for affaldsforebygglese (2015). 149 Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Kortlægning af dagsrenovation i Danmark – Med fokus på etageboliger og madspild (2014); Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Kortlægning af madaffald i servicesektor- en: Detaljhandel, restauranter og storkøkkener (2014). 150 Around 25% is generated by the retail sector and around 20% from the hospitality sector, based on data from Note 149. 151 A UK study estimated that the value of unconsumed food and drink amounted to USD 770 per household a year. WRAP, Waste arising in the supply of food and drink to households (2011). 152 SITRA, Assessing the circular economy potential for Finland (2015). 153 In comparison, WRAP has estimated that directed efforts in the UK have reduced consumer food waste by 15–80%. WRAP, Strategies to achieve economic and environmental gains by reducing food waste (2015). 154 This sector-specific impact does not include indirect effects, e.g. on supply chains, that are captured in the economy-wide CGE modelling. 155 Halloran, A. et al., Food Policy 49, Addressing food waste reduction in Denmark (2014). 156 Beck C. et al., FDB, Vallensbæk, Forbrugere: Vi smider ikke mad ud! (2011).
Page 1:
DRAFT VERSION (June 12, 2015) • C
Page 4 and 5:
4 • DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONO
Page 6 and 7:
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10 and 11:
10 • DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECON
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 39 and 40:
DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY - A
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58: DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY - A
Page 89: DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY - A
Page 92 and 93: 92 • DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECON
Page 100 and 101: 100 • DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECO
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
show all

DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?