Potential Environmental Benefits from Food Loss Prevention in Switzerland

Twenty to thirty percent of the environmental impact of consumption are caused by food consumption (Tukker et al., 2006). A key element to make our food system more efficient and sustainable is the reduction of food losses... [ view full abstract ]

Twenty to thirty percent of the environmental impact of consumption are caused by food consumption (Tukker et al., 2006). A key element to make our food system more efficient and sustainable is the reduction of food losses across the entire food value chain (Quested et al., 2013). However, the potential environmental benefits depend on the type of food that is wasted and on the stage in the food value chain where the food is lost.

We quantified the amount of food losses at the various levels of the Swiss food value chain (agricultural production, postharvest handling and trade, processing, food service industry, retail, and households) in terms of mass and energy (Beretta et al., 2013). Here, we combine the mass and energy flow analysis with LCA data on food production, supply, and food waste treatment (incineration, composting, anaerobic digestion, feeding), in order to analyse the environmental impacts of the consumed food and the wasted food. Credits for outputs from food waste treatment (feed, energy, heat, fertilizer, organic matter) are modelled with system expansion. We calculate the potential amount of food and the related environmental impacts that can be saved with specific measures of food waste prevention, including the use of vegetables and cereals not complying with quality standards, the valorization of whey from cheese production, the consumption of bran and whole-grain instead of superfine flour products, and the reduction of household food waste. For the impact assessment the categories climate change (IPCC, 2013) and global biodiversity loss from land and water use (Chaudhary et al., 2016, Verones et al., 2016) are considered.

The results show that about 25% of the climate impacts of food consumption are caused by food waste. The overall potential of food loss prevention is 0.5 t of CO₂-eq/p/a. The highest reduction potential in terms of mass can be achieved in the supply chain of fresh vegetables, in terms of energy in the supply chain of cereals, and in terms of climate change in the valorization of whey from cheese production. Regarding global biodiversity loss from land and water use cocoa and coffee are the most relevant food waste fractions.

The results are intended to help public and private decision makers to prioritize and legitimate their strategies for preventing food losses and for optimizing the treatment methods of the remaining food losses.

References:

• Chaudhary, A., Verones, F., Baan, L. de, Pfister, S. and Hellweg, S. Land stress: Potential species loss from land use. LC-Impact, 2016.
• IPCC. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, UK and New York, NY, USA. 2013.
• Tukker, Arnold, Gjalt, Huppes, Jeroen, Guinée, Reinout, Heijungs and de Koning, Arjan. Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO). Main Report. Leiden University, the Netherlands. 2006.
• Verones, F., Pfister, S., Zelm, R. van and Hellweg, S. Biodiversity impacts from water consumption on a global scale for use in life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess. 2016.