The project ‘Eco-production of food: sustainable management of food waste’ provides a framework to optimise decision-making with regard to food waste management. It comprises a detailed review of current literature pertaining to food waste management and its associated ramifications, and defines a novel framework consisting of four stages: clear definition of food waste and the boundaries of food systems; categorisation and quantification across supply chains; assessment of environmental, economic and social impacts; and evaluation of technology/management alternatives.
The framework developed is being implemented in a software tool that food businesses can use to select the most sustainable solution to manage their food waste and estimate potential benefits and drawbacks that can be generated as a result.
