DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS

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 etagebol-
iger 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).