About this Research Topic
As a long-standing global issue, food waste spans all stages from production to consumption, with approximately 35% of waste occurring specifically in the consumption sector, as reported by the FAO in 2019. In view of this, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals incorporate reducing waste in the food consumption sector. Moreover, from a lifecycle perspective, waste generated during the food consumption process also leads to an increase in kitchen waste, hindering the process of waste reduction and resource utilization. At present, transforming kitchen waste into animal feed is promising, not only reducing the difficulty of handling kitchen waste but also enhancing the nutrition of feed generated from kitchen waste processing. However, a drawback is that processed feed carries certain quality and safety risks. Therefore, there is a need for further exploration of how to reduce food waste correctly and efficiently in consumption and disposal processes to promote a sustainable food system.
Addressing food waste reduction during consumption and disposal requires collaboration among various entities, including consumers, governments, enterprises, social groups, etc. Various participants play distinctive roles in the food waste reduction process, and their contributions and actions are crucial. The effectiveness of food waste reduction during consumption and disposal can be affected by either the collaborative waste management efforts among multiple entities or individual efforts by each entity, such as the government formulating effective policies, consumers reducing food waste, and enterprises ensuring safe feed processing. This requires clarifying the various interests each entity holds in food waste reduction actions, analyzing the driving mechanism for active participation in food reduction actions, conducting economic analysis and cost analysis related to food waste, and scientifically designing corresponding intervention policies. External contextual factors and subjective factors are common driving factors for reducing food waste. However, the interactions and mechanisms between these driving factors still need to be continuously explored and summarized to better promote reducing food waste in consumption and disposal processes.
This Research Topic is dedicated to reducing food waste and ensuring food security in consumption and disposal processes and aims to collect research papers or review papers, including but not limited to research on the following objectives:
(1) Strategies and approaches for reducing food waste in the consumption and disposal processes
(2) Driving mechanisms for reducing consumer food waste behavior
(3) Economic costs of food waste
(4) Cost-effectiveness of food waste reduction strategies
(5) Costs of developing food waste reduction technologies
(6) Policies to reduce consumer food waste and their effects
(7) Driving mechanisms for kitchen waste reuse
(8) Innovations in technology or management models for reusing kitchen waste
(9) Economic impacts of food waste reuse strategies
(10) Food safety concerns during the food waste reduction process
(11) The application of digital technology in food waste reduction during consumption and disposal
Addressing food waste reduction during consumption and disposal requires collaboration among various entities, including consumers, governments, enterprises, social groups, etc. Various participants play distinctive roles in the food waste reduction process, and their contributions and actions are crucial. The effectiveness of food waste reduction during consumption and disposal can be affected by either the collaborative waste management efforts among multiple entities or individual efforts by each entity, such as the government formulating effective policies, consumers reducing food waste, and enterprises ensuring safe feed processing. This requires clarifying the various interests each entity holds in food waste reduction actions, analyzing the driving mechanism for active participation in food reduction actions, conducting economic analysis and cost analysis related to food waste, and scientifically designing corresponding intervention policies. External contextual factors and subjective factors are common driving factors for reducing food waste. However, the interactions and mechanisms between these driving factors still need to be continuously explored and summarized to better promote reducing food waste in consumption and disposal processes.
This Research Topic is dedicated to reducing food waste and ensuring food security in consumption and disposal processes and aims to collect research papers or review papers, including but not limited to research on the following objectives:
(1) Strategies and approaches for reducing food waste in the consumption and disposal processes
(2) Driving mechanisms for reducing consumer food waste behavior
(3) Economic costs of food waste
(4) Cost-effectiveness of food waste reduction strategies
(5) Costs of developing food waste reduction technologies
(6) Policies to reduce consumer food waste and their effects
(7) Driving mechanisms for kitchen waste reuse
(8) Innovations in technology or management models for reusing kitchen waste
(9) Economic impacts of food waste reuse strategies
(10) Food safety concerns during the food waste reduction process
(11) The application of digital technology in food waste reduction during consumption and disposal
Keywords: Food waste reduction, food consumption, food waste policies, food waste driving mechanisms, food waste disposal, reuse of kitchen waste, technological innovation, management model innovation, food safety, food sustainability, digitization
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
