As urbanization increases, meeting the challenges of urban food supply and food security requires coherent and holistic strategies. Attention too often focuses solely on best practices without addressing the required behavior change. This policy brief highlights the importance of minimizing food loss and waste, which accounts for some 30% of current global production, in order to link and achieve SDGs 2, 11 and 12. The strategy comprises four interrelated elements, namely adopting holistic and circular planning perspectives; facilitating urban and peri-urban farming; integrating innovative behavioral interventions; and providing enabling environments. The G20 has the capacity to act rapidly, without the need for major capital investment, thereby also providing leadership to the entire international community.

Humans generate millions of tons of waste every day. This waste is rich in water, nutrients, energy and organic compounds. Yet waste is not being managed in a way that permits us to derive value from its reuse, whilst millions of farmers struggle with depleted soils and lack of water. This book shows how Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) could create livelihoods, enhance food security, support green economies, reduce waste and contribute to cost recovery in the sanitation chain. While many RRR projects fully depend on subsidies and hardly survive their pilot phase, hopeful signs of viable approaches to RRR are emerging around the globe including low- and middle-income countries. These enterprises or projects are tapping into entrepreneurial initiatives and public ̶ private partnerships, leveraging private capital to help realize commercial or social value, shifting the focus from treatment for waste disposal to treatment of waste as a valuable resource for safe reuse. The book provides a compendium of business options for energy, nutrients and water recovery via 24 innovative business models based on an in-depth analysis of over 60 empirical cases, of which 47 from around the world are described and evaluated in a systematic way. The focus is on organic municipal, agro-industrial and food waste, including fecal sludge, supporting a diverse range of business models with potential for large-scale out-and up-scaling.

This comprehensive handbook represents a definitive state of the current art and science of food waste from multiple perspectives. The issue of food waste has emerged in recent years as a major global problem. Recent research has enabled greater understanding and measurement of loss and waste throughout food supply chains, shedding light on contributing factors and practical solutions. This book includes perspectives and disciplines ranging from agriculture, food science, industrial ecology, history, economics, consumer behaviour, geography, theology, planning, sociology, and environmental policy among others. The Routledge Handbook of Food Waste addresses new and ongoing debates around systemic causes and solutions, including behaviour change, social innovation, new technologies, spirituality, redistribution, animal feed, and activism. The chapters describe and evaluate country case studies, waste management, treatment, prevention, and reduction approaches, and compares research methodologies for better understanding food wastage. This book is essential reading for the growing number of food waste scholars, practitioners, and policy makers interested in researching, theorising, debating, and solving the multifaceted phenomenon of food waste.

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Business economics - Operations Research, grade: 1,0, The University of Liverpool (Operations and Supply Chain Management), language: English, abstract: Food waste remains a major economic, environmental, and social challenge for different food supply chain actors. Grocery retailers play a central role in food waste mitigation due to their unique position next to producers and consumers. Root causes of retail food waste are manifold and complex but can be related to systemic operational mismatches between demand prediction and supply forecasting. Existing solutions and mitigation strategies mainly focus on today’s “brick-and-mortar” retail operation designs. Socio-economic environment and consumer habits constantly evolve with food retailers adapting operations strategies. This literature-based research explores the impact of future retail trends on retail-related food waste and provides risks and opportunities to inform retail operations strategy. Findings suggest that omnichannel business models, personalisation, experience shopping and instore technology offer opportunities for food waste mitigation across waste-hierarchy destinations. Retail operation strategies should address increasing household responsibility and avoid food waste, shifting towards later consumption stages in food supply chains. Contributions are not empirically validated through primary data, but results may form the basis for further studies in future retail operations and/or retail food waste.

The Nordic Food Redistribution Project investigates food waste reduction through the redistribution of surplus food. The project goal is to increase and improve redistribution activities from donors to food banks and charity organisations in order to enhance both environmental and social sustainability in the Nordic region. The phase II report proposes best practice models concerning legislation, organisation, quality assurance and registration of food. Report recommendations are addressed at redistribution and food-serving actors, donors and authorities and focus on how to improve the quality of redistributed food, how to enhance collaboration between the various actors as well as how to prioritize and secure funding for redistribution activities. The report is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers’ green growth initiative: “The Nordic Region – leading in green growth.”