Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel; The Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center (NRERC), University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Department of Environmental Economics and Management and The Center for Agricultural Economic Research, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Waste Manag. 2018 Jun;76:68-81. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2018.03.031. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
The quantification of household food waste is an essential part of setting policies and waste reduction goals, but it is very difficult to estimate. Current methods include either direct measurements (physical waste surveys) or measurements based on self-reports (diaries, interviews, and questionnaires). The main limitation of the first method is that it cannot always trace the waste source, i.e., an individual household, whereas the second method lacks objectivity. This article presents a new measurement method that offers a solution to these challenges by measuring daily produced food waste at the household level. This method is based on four main principles: (1) capturing waste as it enters the stream, (2) collecting waste samples at the doorstep, (3) using the individual household as the sampling unit, and (4) collecting and sorting waste daily. We tested the feasibility of the new method with an empirical study of 192 households, measuring the actual amounts of food waste from households as well as its composition. Household food waste accounted for 45% of total waste (573 g/day per capita), of which 54% was identified as avoidable. Approximately two thirds of avoidable waste consisted of vegetables and fruit. These results are similar to previous findings from waste surveys, yet the new method showed a higher level of accuracy. The feasibility test suggests that the proposed method provides a practical tool for policy makers for setting policy based on reliable empirical data and monitoring the effectiveness of different policies over time.
家庭食物浪费的量化是制定政策和减少浪费目标的重要组成部分，但这非常难以估计。目前的方法包括直接测量（实物垃圾调查）或基于自我报告的测量（日记、访谈和问卷调查）。第一种方法的主要局限性是它不能总是追踪到浪费的源头，即单个家庭，而第二种方法则缺乏客观性。本文提出了一种新的测量方法，通过在家庭层面上测量每天产生的食物垃圾，为这些挑战提供了解决方案。该方法基于四个主要原则：（1）在进入垃圾流时捕获垃圾，（2）在门口收集垃圾样本，（3）以单个家庭为采样单位，（4）每天收集和分类垃圾。我们通过对 192 户家庭的实证研究测试了新方法的可行性，测量了家庭实际产生的食物垃圾量及其组成。家庭食物垃圾占总垃圾量的 45%（人均 573 克/天），其中 54%是可避免的。可避免的垃圾中约有三分之二是蔬菜和水果。这些结果与之前的垃圾调查结果相似，但新方法的准确性更高。可行性测试表明，所提出的方法为政策制定者提供了一种实用工具，可根据可靠的经验数据制定政策，并监测不同政策随时间推移的有效性。
