Reducing food loss and waste contributes to energy, economic and environmental sustainability

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dc.contributor.authorGage, Ewan
dc.contributor.authorWang, Xinfang
dc.contributor.authorXu, Bing
dc.contributor.authorFoster, Alan
dc.contributor.authorEvans, Judith
dc.contributor.authorTerry, Leon A.
dc.contributor.authorFalagán, Natalia
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-22T11:24:12Z
dc.date.available2024-04-22T11:24:12Z
dc.date.issued2024-04-09
dc.description.abstractFood loss and waste (FLW) reduction presents a major opportunity for enhancing the sustainability and resilience of the food supply chain. However, the lack of evidence regarding the scale and origins of FLW hinder determination of its environmental impact and prioritisation of mitigation action. We herein conducted a study to quantify FLW in the UK horticulture supply chain, and estimate its environmental impact as assessed through CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions. Through a metanalysis of existing literature supplemented with stakeholder engagement, we estimated that 2.4 Mt of fresh produce FLW is generated annually between farm gate and retail for home-grown and imported produce, representing 36% of total supply. FLW was perceived as an inevitable economic risk rather than a sustainability issue, driven by economic factors (e.g. labour shortage, price protectionism). The lack of economic incentives for FLW recovery (e.g. alternative processing) further compound FLW. Our results reveal that FLW contributes 1.7 Mt CO2e annually, constituting 27.2% of the total emissions of the fresh produce supply chain. Resource-intensive production, prolonged storage and complex handling needs generates substantial energy demand and concordant environmental impacts. The current over-reliance on cold chain management should be re-examined to disentangle the FLW-energy-environment nexus, especially given that the effects of global warming on the horticulture supply chain has yet to be examined. To effectively mitigate FLW, a holistic approach is imperative, encompassing policy and consumer-level changes alongside development of novel postharvest management strategies.en_UK
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors thank Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council for financial support through the project EP/V042548/1.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationGage E, Wang X, Xu B, et al., (2024) Reducing food loss and waste contributes to energy, economic and environmental sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 451, April 2024, Article number 142068en_UK
dc.identifier.eissn1879-1786
dc.identifier.issn0959-6526
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142068
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/21243
dc.language.isoen_UKen_UK
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectEnergyen_UK
dc.subjectFood policyen_UK
dc.subjectPostharvesten_UK
dc.subjectLogisticsen_UK
dc.subjectEnvironmental impactsen_UK
dc.subjectFood loss and waste (FLW)en_UK
dc.titleReducing food loss and waste contributes to energy, economic and environmental sustainabilityen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK
dcterms.dateAccepted2024-03-31

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