Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Nutrition Policy Institute, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, Oakland, CA 94607, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 5;19(9):5607. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095607.
Public schools in the U.S. generate about 14,500 tons of municipal solid waste daily, and approximately 42% of that is food packaging generated by school foodservice, contributing significantly to the global packaging waste crisis. This literature review summarizes methods used to evaluate food packaging waste in school foodservice. This review has two objectives: first, to understand which methodologies currently exist to evaluate food packaging waste generation and disposal in school foodservice; and second, to describe the creation of and share a practical standardized instrument to evaluate food packaging waste generation and disposal in school foodservice. A systematic review was conducted using the following search terms: solid waste, school, cafeteria and food packaging, waste, and school. The final review included 24 studies conducted in school environments (kindergarten through twelfth grade or college/university), 16 of which took place in the U.S. Food packaging waste evaluations included objective methods of waste audits, models, and secondary data as well as subjective methods of qualitative observations, questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Large variation exists in the settings, participants, designs, and methodologies for evaluating school foodservice packaging waste. Lack of standardization was observed even within each methodology (e.g., waste audit). A new instrument is proposed to support comprehensive and replicable data collection, to further the understanding of school foodservice food packaging waste in the U.S., and to reduce environmental harms.
美国的公立学校每天产生约 14500 吨城市固体废物，其中约 42%来自学校餐饮服务产生的食品包装，这对全球包装废物危机造成了重大影响。本文综述总结了用于评估学校餐饮食品包装废物的方法。本综述有两个目标：首先，了解目前用于评估学校餐饮食品包装废物产生和处理的方法；其次，描述用于评估学校餐饮食品包装废物产生和处理的实用标准化工具的创建和使用。采用以下搜索词进行了系统综述：固体废物、学校、自助餐厅和食品包装、废物和学校。最终综述包括在学校环境（幼儿园至 12 年级或学院/大学）中进行的 24 项研究，其中 16 项在美国进行。食品包装废物评估包括废物审计、模型和二手数据等客观方法，以及定性观察、问卷调查、访谈和焦点小组等主观方法。评估学校餐饮食品包装废物的设置、参与者、设计和方法存在很大差异。即使在每种方法内也观察到缺乏标准化（例如，废物审计）。提出了一种新工具，以支持全面和可重复的数据收集，进一步了解美国学校餐饮食品包装废物，并减少环境危害。
