Department of Geography, School of Environment, Geography and Applied Economics, Harokopio University, 17671, Athens, Greece.
Department of Geography, School of Environment, Geography and Applied Economics, Harokopio University, 17671, Athens, Greece; Department of Economics and Sustainable Development, School of Environment, Geography and Applied Economics, Harokopio University, 17671, Athens, Greece.
Waste Manag. 2024 Dec 15;190:102-112. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2024.09.012. Epub 2024 Sep 18.
The aim of this study was to present the national-level quantification of household food waste in Greece for 2021, in alignment with the legal framework of the European Union (EU) for measuring and reporting food waste. An online diary survey was conducted in spring 2021, utilizing pre-tested semi-structured food waste logs. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze food waste levels and generalized estimating equations (GEE) were performed to assess the influence of diary duration on food waste levels. The final representative sample consisted of 1,133 households. At the national level, the average per-capita annual total food waste generation rate was 86.5 ± 64.5 kg. The predominant share of food waste (47 %) was inedible plant-derived parts, reflecting underlying consumption patterns, whereas 40 % was once-edible food parts. Particularly, vegetables, fruits, and bakery products were the most discarded once-edible food items. Moreover, no statistically significant difference was found between food waste levels across the diary entries, with reporting periods varying from one day to one week. This study marks the first implementation of the EU legislation for household food waste measurement and reporting in Greece. Moreover, the study results indicate that the utilization of diaries with shorter reporting periods than one week, with a sufficiently large sample, may be an appropriate method for measuring nationwide levels, enhancing compliance while mitigating social desirability bias and reducing attrition. Future research should delve into the behaviors driving food waste, motives for prevention in different geographic and cultural contexts, and optimal diary reporting durations.
本研究旨在根据欧盟（EU）衡量和报告食物浪费的法律框架，呈现希腊 2021 年全国层面的家庭食物浪费量化数据。2021 年春季，我们开展了一项在线日记调查，使用预先测试的半结构化食物浪费日志。我们采用描述性统计来分析食物浪费水平，并运用广义估计方程（GEE）评估日记持续时间对食物浪费水平的影响。最终的代表性样本包括 1133 户家庭。在全国层面，人均年总食物浪费产生率平均为 86.5 ± 64.5 公斤。食物浪费的主要部分（47%）是不可食用的植物来源部分，反映了潜在的消费模式，而 40%是曾经可食用的食物部分。特别是蔬菜、水果和烘焙产品是最常被丢弃的曾经可食用食物。此外，不同日记条目之间的食物浪费水平没有统计学上的显著差异，报告期从一天到一周不等。本研究标志着希腊首次实施欧盟关于家庭食物浪费测量和报告的立法。此外，研究结果表明，使用报告期短于一周的日记，并结合足够大的样本，可能是衡量全国层面的一种合适方法，在提高合规性的同时减轻社会期望偏差并减少流失。未来的研究应深入探讨导致食物浪费的行为、不同地理和文化背景下预防的动机以及最佳日记报告持续时间。
