Avoidable Food Waste in the Distribution Sector: Quantification and Valorisation

Background and aim: Recent studies showed that a third of the produced food, globally, is lost or wasted. This is negative in terms of environmental, economic and social impact. The aim of this work is to investigate food waste in the distribution sector, in order to quantify it and explore how it can be valorised according to the Waste Hierarchy Pyramid. Materials and Methods: To achieve this, three systematic bibliographic researches are conducted: one focuses on food waste in the GDO, another one on food waste in food service and the last one explores methodologies for the valorisation of food waste. Moreover, related to the valorisation aspect, a case study has been produced, analysing a new service that use donation of surplus food from GDO as a strategy to valorise it. The surplus food is collected, stocked in the hub and redistributed to the indigents. Results: The state-of-the-art analysis reveals that the few articles quantifying food waste in Italian large-scale retail, are not always comparable, due to varying waste recording methodologies. Therefore, it was not possible to obtain an average value to estimate food waste in Italian supermarkets. However, it was possible to identify the food categories most prone to waste. Regarding food waste in food service, a study on hospital cafeterias was analysed comparing two different meal preparation methods, the results show that one method produce less waste. Furthermore, studies on school cafeterias were examined, and the food waste data resulted comparable. Finally, restaurants were considered, and it resulted that consumers’ food waste is greater than that generated in the kitchen. The last research consists in the analysis of possible strategies to give a new life to food waste, valorising it according to the waste hierarchy pyramid, the solutions were evaluated considering their environmental impact, quantifies through LCA studies. Among the potential opportunities, donation emerged as an option, though not always with the lowest environmental impact, but the articles do not consider the social aspect, while the case study conducted does it. Using SimaPro the environmental impact of the service was calculated, considering carbon credits and debits, and donation resulted the most advantageous choice. A social prospect has been made, and it resulted that thanks to this service, meals for 134 people were provided daily. Finally, the nutritional profile of the donated food was also analysed, and it was found that only the protein content is coherent with the LARN guidelines recommendations. Conclusions: In conclusion, it would be advisable to create a clear and universal waste monitoring and recording methodology to allow data comparison. It would also be important to educate children about food waste and its consequences, to create more sensitive and informed consumers. The case study was found to be environmentally beneficial, but it could be more ecological by optimizing transportation phase of the service. Additionally, it was observed that the nutritional profile is not aligned with the LARN values. To address this, a network, based on macronutrients, could be created between the different hubs, to obtain a balanced meal for the needy.