Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to work out a new, innovative tool to describe trends of food waste and loss (FWL) in the food industry. The result can help evaluate efforts for lowering wastes. FWL prevention recently gained much attention and priority among governments and international organizations as a major means to achieve global food security and sustainability; this led to the very ambitious UN goal SDG 12.3, which aims to halve global food losses by 2030. It is an ethical obligation to achieve SDGs by 2030. It is not declared in law and is not required for profitability in the food industry. A new tool is proposed to evaluate efforts to halve food losses in this article, which one may be used in leadership easily and effectively. At first, FWL definitions were analyzed to get a clear picture of the content of FWL data sourced from FAOSTAT and EUROSTAT. These definitions were compared with others from different sources. It is concluded that we have so many different definitions for FWL because of the difference in the purpose of data collecting. The most justified definition – often newly created – is used in each case. FWL data received from FAOSTAT and EUROSTAT in the period of 2010 − 2018 were compared to find the correlation. It is inverse and very weak, so they are not comparable; they must be evaluated separately. The trend of the FWL data is increasing and is not significant on level 95% in EUROSTAT, and decreasing and important on level 95% in FAOSTAT, from 2010 to 2018. FWL data from EUROSTAT are in moderate correlation with GDP and HDI. A new index, Food Waste Loss Trend Index (FWLTI), was created to evaluate FWL in EU member states and analyzed them with cluster analyses and scatterplots. There was no connection among the EU28 member states with FWLTI, so every member state is an individual case; there are no standard rules for FLW generation.

Keywords: Food Waste and Loss, Definition Analysis, FAOSTAT and EUROSTAT Data Comparison, Trend Evaluation, Correlation with GDP and HDI, EU28, Tool for Leadership.

JEL Classification: Q5, Q53.

Cite as: Zachár, J. (2021). Food Waste Loss Trend Index (FWLTI), A New Tool to Enable Management Decisions. Business Ethics and Leadership, 5(3), 47-60. https://doi.org/10.21272/bel.5(3).47-60.2021

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References

1. Bellemare, M.F., Çakir, M., Peterson, H.H., Novak, L., & Rudi, J. (2017). On the Measurement of Food Waste. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 99(5), 1148-1158. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
2. Blakeney, M. (2019). Food loss and food waste: Causes and solutions. Rome: FAO. 224 p. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
3. Bräutigam, K.R., Jörissen, J., & Priefer, C. (2014). The extent of food waste generation across EU-27: Different calculation methods and the reliability of their results. Waste Management and Research, 32(8), 683-694. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
4. Caldeira, C., De Laurentiis, V., Ghose, A., Corrado, S., & Sala, S. (2021). Grown and thrown: Exploring approaches to estimate food waste in EU countries. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 168, 105426. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
5. Chaboud, G., & Daviron, B. (2017). Food losses and waste: Navigating the inconsistencies. Global Food Security, 12, 1-7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
6. Corrado, S., & Sala, S. (2018). Food waste accounting along global and European food supply chains: State of the art and outlook. Waste Management, 79, 120-131. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
7. Cristóbal, J., Castellani, V., Manfredi, S., & Sala, S. (2018). Prioritizing and optimizing sustainable measures for food waste prevention and management. Waste Management, 72, 3-16. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
8. European Comission (2015). CE Action Plan. Available at: [Link]
9. European Comission (2019). Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2000 of 28 November 2019 laying down a format for reporting of data on food waste and for submission of the quality check report in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Counc. Available at: [Link]
10. European Comission (2020). Circular economy action plan (new). Available at: [Link]
11. European Parliament (2002). Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics. Available at: [Link]
12. European Parliament (2008). Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives. Available at: [Link]
13. EUROSTAT (2010). Guidance on classification of waste according to EWC-Stat categories Supplement to the Manual for the Implement. Available at: [Link]
14. Fabi, C., & English, A. (2019). Methodological proposal for monitoring sdg target 12.3. Sub-indicator 12.3.1.a The food loss index design, data collection methods and challenges. Rome. Available at: [Link]
15. FAO (n.d.). New Food Balances Description of utilization variables. Available at: [Link]
16. Fujii, H., & Kondo, Y. (2018). Decomposition analysis of food waste management with explicit consideration of priority of alternative management options and its application to the Japanese food industry from 2008 to 2015. Journal of Cleaner Production, 188, 568-574. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
17. Gelman, A., & Hill, J. (2008). Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models. Available at: [Link]
18. Grekousis, G., Mountrakis, G., & Kavouras, M. (2017). MODIS-derived forest and cropland land cover 2011 estimations to socioeconomic and environmental indicators for the European Union’s 28 countries. GIScience & Remote Sensing Linking, 53(1), 122-146. [CrossRef]
19. Hamish Forbes, Tom Quested, C.O. (2021). FOOD WASTE INDEX REPORT 2021. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme. Available at: [Link]
20. Hanson, C., Lipinski, B., Robertson, K., Dias, D., Gavilan, I., Gréverath, P., Quested, T. (2016). Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard V E R S I O N 1.0 FLW Protocol Steering Committee and Authors Other Contributing Authors. World Resources Institute. 156 p. Available at: [Link]
21. Hartikainen, H., Mogensen, L., Svanes, E., & Franke, U. (2018). Food waste quantification in primary production – The Nordic countries as a case study. Waste Management, 71, 502-511. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
22. Irani, Z., Sharif, A. M., Lee, H., Aktas, E., Topaloğlu, Z., van’t Wout, T., & Huda, S. (2018). Managing food security through food waste and loss: Small data to big data. Computers and Operations Research, 98, 367-383. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
23. Kasza, G., Szabó-Bódi, B., Lakner, Z., & Izsó, T. (2019). Balancing the desire to decrease food waste with requirements of food safety. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 84(June 2017), 74-76. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
24. Kinnaman, T.G. (2006). Policy watch examining the justification for residential recycling. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(4), 219-232. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
25. Koestler, U., Galaktionova, E. (2021). FAO Food Loss Index methodology and policy implications. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 123(1), 1-7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
26. Mingione, M., Fabi, C., & Lasinio, G.J. (2021). Measuring and Modeling Food Losses. Journal of Official Statistics, 37(1), 171-211. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
27. Nicastro, R., Carillo, P., Lange, S., & Schmidt, T. (2021). Sustainability Food Loss and Waste Prevention Strategies from Farm to Fork. Sustainability, 13(10), 5443. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
28. Radauer, A. (2020). Driving from the fringe into spotlight. The underrated role of standards and standardisation in RTDI policy and evaluation. Fteval Journal for Research and Technology, 51, 59-65. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
29. Reutter, B., Lant, P.A., & Lane, J.L. (2017). The challenge of characterising food waste at a national level − An Australian example. Environmental Science and Policy, 78(September), 157-166. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
30. Reynolds, C., Goucher, L., Quested, T., Bromley, S., Gillick, S., Wells, V.K., Jackson, P. (2019). Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions. Food Policy, 83(January), 7-27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
31. Schanes, K., Dobernig, K., & Gözet, B. (2018). Food waste matters − A systematic review of household food waste practices and their policy implications. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 978-991. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
32. Stenmarck, Å., Jensen, C., Quested, T., Moates, G., Buksti, M., Cseh, B., Östergren, K. (2016). Estimates of European food waste levels. Reducing food waste through social innovation. Fusions. Available at: [Link]
33. Szigeti, C., Tóth, G., Borzán, A., & Farkas, S. (2014). GDP Alternatives and their Correlations. Journal of Environmental Sustainability, 3(3), 1-12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
34. Tayyib, S., & Golini, N. (2016). The FAO approach to food loss concepts and estimation in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 12 Target 3. In Paper presented to the 17th International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (Rome, Italy: 26-28 October 2016). (p. 7). [CrossRef]
35. Thyberg, K.L., & Tonjes, D.J. (2016). Drivers of food waste and their implications for sustainable policy development. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 106, 110-123. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
36. United Nations (2015). 70/1. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Preamble. Available at: [Link]