A systematic literature review of impactful food waste interventions at the consumer level

Abstract

As consumers contribute largely to the global food waste quantity, many efforts have been made to reduce food waste through interventions. However, knowledge of the impact of the interventions is required to reduce consumers' food waste. We systematically reviewed 49 studies that evaluated 54 interventions to reduce food waste at the consumer level. The studies were assessed according to three criteria: the type of intervention (single- or multi-component), the study design (randomised experiments, non-randomised [quasi] experiments, non-experimental studies), and the impact on food waste reduction (significant reduction, non-significant reduction, no reduction). The majority of interventions were single-component (n = 45), with only a small percentage being multi-component (n = 9). Most interventions resulted in a significant reduction in food waste (n = 36). Furthermore, the majority of the studies used non-randomised (quasi) experiments (n = 35). Multi-component interventions with nudges showed promise for reducing food waste among consumers, with most having a significant impact and leading to the highest food waste reductions (up to 84.3 %). This review synthesises the current state of knowledge regarding the impact of food waste reduction interventions, which can help identify and implement effective interventions in the future.