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Redistribution of leftover food from municipal canteens in Sweden to avoid food waste - Environmental, social and economic effects

Sellmann Jansson, Lotta LU (2019) FMIM01 20182
Environmental and Energy Systems Studies
Abstract
In 2015 the Swedish government signed the UN Agenda 2030 comprising of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and a total of 169 sub targets. Goal 12 target 3 reads as follows: “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” Wasting eatable food effectively highlights
all three parameters of the concept of sustainability; it is neither economically nor ethically defensible and it is a waste of natural resources. In Sweden the public canteens serving children, students and elderly within various municipal activities, generate food loss amounting to 73 000 tonnes annually. According to FAO food loss refers to the decrease of... (More)
In 2015 the Swedish government signed the UN Agenda 2030 comprising of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and a total of 169 sub targets. Goal 12 target 3 reads as follows: “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” Wasting eatable food effectively highlights
all three parameters of the concept of sustainability; it is neither economically nor ethically defensible and it is a waste of natural resources. In Sweden the public canteens serving children, students and elderly within various municipal activities, generate food loss amounting to 73 000 tonnes annually. According to FAO food loss refers to the decrease of quantity or quality of food whilst food waste is the discarding and non-food related treatment of food that is safe for human consumption.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate food loss from Swedish canteens and the share constituting of food waste. Research questions establishing the foundation of this work regarded food loss quantities, the share constituting of food waste which could be redistributed and environmental, social and economic effects from a potential redistribution. To answer the research questions a literature study, one interview, one more extensive and two complementing surveys and a case study were conducted. The goal was to present a suggestion on how overproduced food from municipal canteens could be redistributed, aiming at optimizing all three parameters of sustainability.

Data from the larger survey was categorized based on whether the respondent answered from a municipal position or not, and further on the type of kitchen the respondents represented. A total of 121 attendants answered the survey, representing 84 municipalities. Thesis results imply annual food loss quantities varying from 3.5 kg per person for kitchens solely cooking, to 8.6 kg per person for attendants answering from a municipal position. For the average municipality, food loss quantities was estimated to 40 tonnes of which approximately 19 tonnes is suggested to be food waste. Resulting greenhouse gas emissions was calculated to 2.6 tonnes of CO2-eq. per year, corresponding to 0.002 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the municipality. The 19 tonnes of eatable food could have been served to approximately 58 500 persons and expenses avoided from reduced waste management costs would have corresponded to 5 500 SEK.

It was concluded that a redistribution suggestion with optimized sustainability performance, solely based on thesis results, could not be given. This would require more profound research on both environmental, social and economic effects from the food waste. In line with the EU waste hierarchy, focus should be that of working preventively from generating food waste. It should also be
emphasized that redistribution must never legitimize the overproduction of food.

Conclusions from thesis results aret hat large food waste quantities are generated from Swedish public canteens. Food waste primarily arise from plate scrape off and from trays with food that have been up for service outside of the kitchen. It is believed, based on results from the larger survey, that canteen staff are unsure of what they may and may not do with leftovers to reduce food
waste. To redistribute overproduced food from the municipal canteens would contribute to a more sustainable food system, even though environmental and economic gains are small. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
I december 2015 skrev den svenska regering under FN:s Agenda 2030 bestående av 17 hållbarhetsmål med tillhörande 169 delmål. Mål 12, delmål 3 lyder: “Till 2030, halvera det globala matsvinnet per person i butik- och konsumentledet, och minska matsvinnet längs hela livsmedelskedjan, även förlusterna efter skörd.” Att fullt ätbar mat slängs belyser alla tre aspekter av begreppet hållbarhet på ett effektivt sätt; det är varken ekonomiskt eller etiskt försvarbart och ett slöseri med naturresurser. Svenska storkök lagar och serverar mat till barn, elever och äldre inom olika kommunala verksamheterna och tillsammans genererar de ca. 73 000 ton matavfall årligen. Enligt FAO definieras matavfall som minskning av kvantitet eller kvalitet av mat,... (More)
I december 2015 skrev den svenska regering under FN:s Agenda 2030 bestående av 17 hållbarhetsmål med tillhörande 169 delmål. Mål 12, delmål 3 lyder: “Till 2030, halvera det globala matsvinnet per person i butik- och konsumentledet, och minska matsvinnet längs hela livsmedelskedjan, även förlusterna efter skörd.” Att fullt ätbar mat slängs belyser alla tre aspekter av begreppet hållbarhet på ett effektivt sätt; det är varken ekonomiskt eller etiskt försvarbart och ett slöseri med naturresurser. Svenska storkök lagar och serverar mat till barn, elever och äldre inom olika kommunala verksamheterna och tillsammans genererar de ca. 73 000 ton matavfall årligen. Enligt FAO definieras matavfall som minskning av kvantitet eller kvalitet av mat, och matsvinn som kasserande och icke-konsumtionsrelaterad behandling av mat som är säker för förtäring.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka matavfallet från kommunala storkök i Sverige och hur mycket av detta som utgörs av matsvinn. Frågor som utgjort grunden för arbetet berör totala mängder matavfall, andelen matsvinn som skulle kunna tas omhand och redistribueras, samt miljömässiga, sociala och ekonomiska effekter av en sådan redistribution. För att kunna besvara dessa genomfördes en litteraturstudie, en intervju, en mer omfattande och två kompletterande enkäter samt en fallstudie. Målet var att formulera ett förslag på hur överproducerad mat från de kommunala storköken skulle kunna redistribueras för att optimera samtliga tre hållbarhetsparametrar.

Data från den mer omfattande enkäten kategoriserades utifrån huruvida enkäten besvarats från kommunen centralt eller inte, och vidare vilken typ av kök deltagarna representerade. Totalt erhölls 121 enkätsvar med representanter från 84 kommuner. Resultat från denna enkät indikerar att det årliga matavfallet varierar från 3.5 kg per person för tillagningskök, till 8.6 kg per person uppskattat av de som svarat på kommunal nivå. Beräkningar på matavfallet för den genomsnittliga kommunen uppskattades till dryga 40 ton per år, av vilket i genomsnitt 19 ton utgjordes av matsvinn. Utsläpp av växthusgaser relaterat till behandlingen av dessa matsvinnsmängder beräknades till 2.6 ton CO2-ekv. per år och kommun, vilket motsvarar ca 0.002 % av kommunens totala utsläpp. Vidare skulle det ätbara svinnet kunnat tagits omhand och motsvara närmare 58 500 portioner. Kostnader som kommunen kunnat undvika för avfallshanteringen av matsvinnet uppskattades till 5 500 SEK per år.

Det konstaterades att ett förslag med optimerad hållbarthetsprestanda, enbart utifrån uppsatsens resultat, inte kunde ges. För detta skulle det krävas mer omfattande studier på såväl klimatmässiga, sociala som ekonomiska effekter av svinnet. Vidare konstaterades det, i enighet med EU:s avfalls hierarki, att fokus bör ligga på att motverka uppkomsten av matsvinn. Det ska också belysas att alternativet att redistribuera sådant som annars blivit matsvinn inte får legitimera överproduktion.

Slutsatser som dragits från erhållna resultat är att stora mängder ätbar mat slängs från de kommunala storköken. Svinnet uppstår främst i form av tallrikssvinn och från de bleck med mat som varit ute i servering. Resultat från den mer omfattande enkäter tyder på osäkerhet bland de som arbetar i köken kring var som får och inte får göras med den mat som riskerar att bli svinn. Att redistribuera överproducerad mat från storköken skulle bidra till ett mer hållbart matsystem, även om de klimatmässiga och ekonomiska vinsterna är små. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Sellmann Jansson, Lotta LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Redistribution av matrester från kommunala storkök i Sverige för att undvika matsvinn - klimatmässiga, sociala och ekonomiska effekter
course
FMIM01 20182
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Food waste, redistribution, sustainability, municipal canteens
report number
ISRN LUTFD2/TFEM—19/5141--SE + (1 - 149)
ISSN
1102-3651
language
English
id
8972224
date added to LUP
2019-03-05 08:24:48
date last changed
2019-03-05 08:24:48
@misc{8972224,
  abstract     = {{In 2015 the Swedish government signed the UN Agenda 2030 comprising of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and a total of 169 sub targets. Goal 12 target 3 reads as follows: “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” Wasting eatable food effectively highlights
all three parameters of the concept of sustainability; it is neither economically nor ethically defensible and it is a waste of natural resources. In Sweden the public canteens serving children, students and elderly within various municipal activities, generate food loss amounting to 73 000 tonnes annually. According to FAO food loss refers to the decrease of quantity or quality of food whilst food waste is the discarding and non-food related treatment of food that is safe for human consumption.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate food loss from Swedish canteens and the share constituting of food waste. Research questions establishing the foundation of this work regarded food loss quantities, the share constituting of food waste which could be redistributed and environmental, social and economic effects from a potential redistribution. To answer the research questions a literature study, one interview, one more extensive and two complementing surveys and a case study were conducted. The goal was to present a suggestion on how overproduced food from municipal canteens could be redistributed, aiming at optimizing all three parameters of sustainability.

Data from the larger survey was categorized based on whether the respondent answered from a municipal position or not, and further on the type of kitchen the respondents represented. A total of 121 attendants answered the survey, representing 84 municipalities. Thesis results imply annual food loss quantities varying from 3.5 kg per person for kitchens solely cooking, to 8.6 kg per person for attendants answering from a municipal position. For the average municipality, food loss quantities was estimated to 40 tonnes of which approximately 19 tonnes is suggested to be food waste. Resulting greenhouse gas emissions was calculated to 2.6 tonnes of CO2-eq. per year, corresponding to 0.002 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the municipality. The 19 tonnes of eatable food could have been served to approximately 58 500 persons and expenses avoided from reduced waste management costs would have corresponded to 5 500 SEK.

It was concluded that a redistribution suggestion with optimized sustainability performance, solely based on thesis results, could not be given. This would require more profound research on both environmental, social and economic effects from the food waste. In line with the EU waste hierarchy, focus should be that of working preventively from generating food waste. It should also be
emphasized that redistribution must never legitimize the overproduction of food.

Conclusions from thesis results aret hat large food waste quantities are generated from Swedish public canteens. Food waste primarily arise from plate scrape off and from trays with food that have been up for service outside of the kitchen. It is believed, based on results from the larger survey, that canteen staff are unsure of what they may and may not do with leftovers to reduce food
waste. To redistribute overproduced food from the municipal canteens would contribute to a more sustainable food system, even though environmental and economic gains are small.}},
  author       = {{Sellmann Jansson, Lotta}},
  issn         = {{1102-3651}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Redistribution of leftover food from municipal canteens in Sweden to avoid food waste - Environmental, social and economic effects}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}