Global water and energy losses from consumer avoidable food waste

Coudard, A.; Corbin, E; de Koning, J.I.J.C.; Tukker, Arnold; Mogollón, José

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129342

Global water and energy losses from consumer avoidable food waste

Title

Global water and energy losses from consumer avoidable food waste

Author

Coudard, A. (Universiteit Leiden; Metabolic Institute, Amsterdam)
Corbin, E (Metabolic Institute, Amsterdam)
de Koning, J.I.J.C. (TU Delft Design for Sustainability)
Tukker, Arnold (Universiteit Leiden)
Mogollón, José (Universiteit Leiden)

Date

2021

Abstract

Food products require significant amounts of energy and water throughout their lifecycle, yet humanity wastes 1.3e9 tons of food on a yearly basis. A large part of this waste occurs during the consumption (post-retail) phase of the food system as avoidable food waste, the discarded edible (parts of) food products. In this study, we explore the effects of avoidable food waste on the Food-Energy-Water nexus. We show that the 344 million tonnes of global avoidable food waste is responsible for squandering 4e18 J of energy and 82e9 m3 of water. While there are important regional differences in terms of avoidable food waste due to varying diets and waste incidences, these energy and water losses are rivaling the electricity and the blue water use of populous nations, and adding to needless pressures on the environment.

Subject

Consumer food waste
Embodied energy
Food-energy-water nexus
Resource-efficiency
Sustainable food system
Water footprint

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http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d492ae5e-228e-442d-9202-af72b5077c3f

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129342

ISSN

0959-6526

Source

Journal of Cleaner Production, 326

Part of collection

Institutional Repository