Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

One-third of all food production is wasted according to international estimations. United Nations
have set an aim to reduce food waste by halving the amount by 2030 as food waste is responsible
for creating much of the negative impacts on the environment. Food waste reduction is seen as one
of the critical elements to achieving a sustainable food system under the EU food strategy.
This study compiles food waste data from a large number of food serving places in Sweden. The
information was collected from 822 kitchen units that recorded 609 tons of food waste from serving
7,683,650 meal portions served in Swedish public catering including Elderly care, Hospitals,
Preschools, Primary schools, Secondary schools, and places that was a mixture of these categories.
The data was recorded by the municipalities themselves and was then collected and compiled for
the present study. The average waste per portion (in gram) throughout 2013 to 2020 were 122 g, 110
g, 65 g, 64 g, 96 g, and 51 g respectively in all sectors of catering units aggregated. In all sectors,
the trend of food waste generation was declining to indicate that measures to reduce food waste are
successful and contribute to a sustainable food system