Reducing environmental pressures produced by household food waste: initiatives and policy challenges

Abstract

In this study, an environmental approach is used to reveal pressures on natural resources caused by food waste and depicted through water, land and energy footprints. The purpose is: 1) to quantify food waste in households in the Metropolitan District of Quito; 2) to determine the environmental pressure of food waste on energy, water and land. Finally, an analysis of some initiatives for reducing food waste and policies applied to the supply chain of the products selected was performed. To that end, an online survey was carried out, and the responses were classified through a descriptive analysis to establish categories of food and the energy, water, and land footprints of rice and potatoes. The results and information presented here are expected to be valuable for generating or rethinking policies to make improvements in the food system to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.