IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v9y2020i7p231-d385597.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges of Food Waste Governance: An Assessment of European Legislation on Food Waste and Recommendations for Improvement by Economic Instruments

Author

Listed:
  • Beatrice Garske

    (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, 04229 Leipzig, Germany
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany)

  • Katharine Heyl

    (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, 04229 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Felix Ekardt

    (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, 04229 Leipzig, Germany
    Faculty of Law and Interdisciplinary Faculty, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany)

  • Lea Moana Weber

    (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, 04229 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Wiktoria Gradzka

    (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, 04229 Leipzig, Germany)

Abstract

Food is wasted throughout the entire food supply chain—from agricultural production to the household level. This has negative impacts on natural resources and the environment. At the same time, food waste is undermining the global target of food security. In turn, reducing food waste can minimise the environmental effects of agriculture on climate, biodiversity, soils, water bodies and the atmosphere. All of this is reflected in the fact that food waste is subject to various legal acts of the European Union and that it is also a major subject in the new EU Farm to Fork Strategy from May 2020. Supported by an analysis of the diffuse empirical data on food waste, the purpose of this article is to analyse the current EU legislation on food waste and its reduction to answer the following research questions: How is food waste integrated into European policies? What is the impact of European legislation on food waste? Is European legislation sufficient to trigger not only food waste reduction but also comprehensive changes in the agricultural and food sector to support global climate and environmental targets as set in the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity? Which instruments are the most suitable to do so? Methodologically, a qualitative governance analysis is applied. It is found that relevant legal acts for governing food waste include circular economy and waste law, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy as well as food law, while international environmental targets serve as an overarching measure for governance analysis. The legal analysis shows that existing legislation lacks steering effect to significantly reduce food waste. To overcome current governance problems, the article introduces economic policy instruments. It is concluded that quantity control focusing on overarching parameters such as fossil fuels or animal-derived products has not only the potential to reduce food waste by increasing food prices but can also address the multiple interlinked environmental challenges of the agricultural and food sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Beatrice Garske & Katharine Heyl & Felix Ekardt & Lea Moana Weber & Wiktoria Gradzka, 2020. "Challenges of Food Waste Governance: An Assessment of European Legislation on Food Waste and Recommendations for Improvement by Economic Instruments," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-23, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:7:p:231-:d:385597
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/7/231/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/7/231/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Cunsheng & Su, Haijia & Baeyens, Jan & Tan, Tianwei, 2014. "Reviewing the anaerobic digestion of food waste for biogas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 383-392.
    2. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 23-32.
    3. Bojana Bajželj & Keith S. Richards & Julian M. Allwood & Pete Smith & John S. Dennis & Elizabeth Curmi & Christopher A. Gilligan, 2014. "Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 924-929, October.
    4. Hall-Phillips, Adrienne & Shah, Purvi, 2017. "Unclarity confusion and expiration date labels in the United States: A consumer perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 118-126.
    5. Alexander, Peter & Brown, Calum & Arneth, Almut & Finnigan, John & Moran, Dominic & Rounsevell, Mark D.A., 2017. "Losses, inefficiencies and waste in the global food system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 190-200.
    6. Marc F. Bellemare & Metin Çakir & Hikaru Hanawa Peterson & Lindsey Novak & Jeta Rudi, 2017. "On the Measurement of Food Waste," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1148-1158.
    7. Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske & Felix Ekardt, 2018. "Sustainable Land Use, Soil Protection and Phosphorus Management from a Cross-National Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Felix Ekardt & Benedikt Jacobs & Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske, 2020. "Peatland Governance: The Problem of Depicting in Sustainability Governance, Regulatory Law, and Economic Instruments," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-24, March.
    9. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    10. Felix Ekardt & Jutta Wieding & Anika Zorn, 2018. "Paris Agreement, Precautionary Principle and Human Rights: Zero Emissions in Two Decades?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 23-32, January.
    12. Susanne Stoll-Kleemann & Tim O’Riordan, 2020. "Revisiting the Psychology of Denial Concerning Low-Carbon Behaviors: From Moral Disengagement to Generating Social Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    13. Massimo Canali & Pegah Amani & Lusine Aramyan & Manuela Gheoldus & Graham Moates & Karin Östergren & Kirsi Silvennoinen & Keith Waldron & Matteo Vittuari, 2016. "Food Waste Drivers in Europe, from Identification to Possible Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-33, December.
    14. Antonia Weishaupt & Felix Ekardt & Beatrice Garske & Jessica Stubenrauch & Jutta Wieding, 2020. "Land Use, Livestock, Quantity Governance, and Economic Instruments—Sustainability Beyond Big Livestock Herds and Fossil Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-27, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hannah Barker & Peter J. Shaw & Beth Richards & Zoe Clegg & Dianna M. Smith, 2023. "Towards Sustainable Food Systems: Exploring Household Food Waste by Photographic Diary in Relation to Unprocessed, Processed and Ultra-Processed Food," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Hannah Barker & Peter J. Shaw & Beth Richards & Zoe Clegg & Dianna Smith, 2021. "What Nudge Techniques Work for Food Waste Behaviour Change at the Consumer Level? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Carla Zarbà & Gaetano Chinnici & Giovanni La Via & Salvatore Bracco & Biagio Pecorino & Mario D’Amico, 2021. "Regulatory Elements on the Circular Economy: Driving into the Agri-Food System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-22, July.
    4. Madhura Rao & Aalt Bast & Alie Boer, 2023. "Understanding the phenomenon of food waste valorisation from the perspective of supply chain actors engaged in it," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Pilar Campoy-Muñoz & Manuel Alejandro Cardenete & María del Carmen Delgado & Ferran Sancho, 2021. "Food Losses and Waste: A Needed Assessment for Future Policies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-11, November.
    6. Phemelo Tamasiga & Taghi Miri & Helen Onyeaka & Abarasi Hart, 2022. "Food Waste and Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-30, August.
    7. Silas Mukwarami & Chekani Nkwaira & Huibrecht Margaretha van der Poll, 2023. "Environmental Management Accounting Implementation Challenges and Supply Chain Management in Emerging Economies’ Manufacturing Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Aiolfi, Simone, 2023. "Green Digital Nudging and channel relationships," OSF Preprints 8wuzy, Center for Open Science.
    9. Sarfraz, Muddassar & Iqbal, Kashif & Wang, Yichu & Bhutta, Muhammad Shoaib & Jaffri, Zain ul Abidin, 2023. "Role of agricultural resource sector in environmental emissions and its explicit relationship with sustainable development: Evidence from agri-food system in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Julia Kleineidam, 2022. "Distinguishing Organisational Profiles of Food Loss Management in Logistics," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-23, August.
    11. Giulia Chiaraluce & Deborah Bentivoglio & Adele Finco, 2021. "Circular Economy for a Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chain: A Review for Current Trends and Future Pathways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    12. Elżbieta Goryńska-Goldmann & Michał Gazdecki & Krystyna Rejman & Sylwia Łaba & Joanna Kobus-Cisowska & Krystian Szczepański, 2021. "Magnitude, Causes and Scope for Reducing Food Losses in the Baking and Confectionery Industry—A Multi-Method Approach," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, September.
    13. Mirela Stanciu & Agatha Popescu & Iuliana Antonie & Camelia Sava & Bogdan Gabriel Nistoreanu, 2022. "Good Practices on Reducing Food Waste Throughout the Food Supply Chain," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(60), pages 566-566, April.
    14. Rosalinda Nicastro & Petronia Carillo, 2021. "Food Loss and Waste Prevention Strategies from Farm to Fork," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.
    15. Nimni Pannila & Madushan Madhava Jayalath & Amila Thibbotuwawa & Izabela Nielsen & T.G.G. Uthpala, 2022. "Challenges in Applying Circular Economy Concepts to Food Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-24, December.
    16. Elżbieta Goryńska-Goldmann & Michał Gazdecki & Krystyna Rejman & Joanna Kobus-Cisowska & Sylwia Łaba & Robert Łaba, 2020. "How to Prevent Bread Losses in the Baking and Confectionery Industry?—Measurement, Causes, Management and Prevention," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    17. Beatrice Garske & Antonia Bau & Felix Ekardt, 2021. "Digitalization and AI in European Agriculture: A Strategy for Achieving Climate and Biodiversity Targets?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, April.
    18. Katharine Heyl & Felix Ekardt & Paula Roos & Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske, 2021. "Free Trade, Environment, Agriculture, and Plurilateral Treaties: The Ambivalent Example of Mercosur, CETA, and the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.
    19. Dimitrie Stoica & Angela-Eliza Micu & Maricica Stoica, 2022. "The Impact of Economic Drivers on Food Loss Management," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(1), pages 753-761, September.
    20. Yannis E. Doukas & Luca Salvati & Ioannis Vardopoulos, 2023. "Unraveling the European Agricultural Policy Sustainable Development Trajectory," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-24, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ancuta Isbasoiu & Pierre-Alain Jayet & Stéphane De Cara, 2021. "Increasing food production and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union: impacts of carbon pricing and calorie production targeting," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 409-440, April.
    2. Efrat Elimelech & Eyal Ert & Ofira Ayalon, 2019. "Exploring the Drivers behind Self-Reported and Measured Food Wastage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2021. "Does dietary knowledge affect household food waste in the developing economy of China?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    4. George Tsalis & Birger Boutrup Jensen & S. Wiley Wakeman & Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, 2021. "Promoting Food for the Trash Bin? A Review of the Literature on Retail Price Promotions and Household-Level Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Jutta Wieding & Jessica Stubenrauch & Felix Ekardt, 2020. "Human Rights and Precautionary Principle: Limits to Geoengineering, SRM, and IPCC Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Katharine Heyl & Felix Ekardt & Lennard Sund & Paula Roos, 2022. "Potentials and Limitations of Subsidies in Sustainability Governance: The Example of Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, November.
    7. Danilo Bertoni & Daniele Cavicchioli & Franco Donzelli & Giovanni Ferrazzi & Dario G. Frisio & Roberto Pretolani & Elena Claire Ricci & Vera Ventura, 2018. "Recent Contributions of Agricultural Economics Research in the Field of Sustainable Development," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Rohmer, S.U.K. & Gerdessen, J.C. & Claassen, G.D.H., 2019. "Sustainable supply chain design in the food system with dietary considerations: A multi-objective analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(3), pages 1149-1164.
    9. Antonia Weishaupt & Felix Ekardt & Beatrice Garske & Jessica Stubenrauch & Jutta Wieding, 2020. "Land Use, Livestock, Quantity Governance, and Economic Instruments—Sustainability Beyond Big Livestock Herds and Fossil Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-27, March.
    10. Garcia-Herrero, I. & Hoehn, D. & Margallo, M. & Laso, J. & Bala, A. & Batlle-Bayer, L. & Fullana, P. & Vazquez-Rowe, I. & Gonzalez, M.J. & Durá, M.J. & Sarabia, C. & Abajas, R. & Amo-Setien, F.J. & Qu, 2018. "On the estimation of potential food waste reduction to support sustainable production and consumption policies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 24-38.
    11. Günther, Philipp & Ekardt, Felix, 2022. "Human Rights and Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: Potential Limits to BECCS and DACCS Deployment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(12), pages 1-29.
    12. van Dooren, C. & Keuchenius, C. & de Vries, J.H.M. & de Boer, J. & Aiking, H., 2018. "Unsustainable dietary habits of specific subgroups require dedicated transition strategies: Evidence from the Netherlands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 44-57.
    13. Beatrice Garske & Antonia Bau & Felix Ekardt, 2021. "Digitalization and AI in European Agriculture: A Strategy for Achieving Climate and Biodiversity Targets?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, April.
    14. S. Wiley Wakeman & George Tsalis & Birger Boutrup Jensen & Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, 2022. "Seeing the Issue Differently (Or Not At All): How Bounded Ethicality Complicates Coordination Towards Sustainability Goals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 325-338, June.
    15. Philipp Günther & Felix Ekardt, 2022. "Human Rights and Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: Potential Limits to BECCS and DACCS Deployment," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-29, November.
    16. Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske & Felix Ekardt & Katharina Hagemann, 2022. "European Forest Governance: Status Quo and Optimising Options with Regard to the Paris Climate Target," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-35, April.
    17. Felix Ekardt & Benedikt Jacobs & Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske, 2020. "Peatland Governance: The Problem of Depicting in Sustainability Governance, Regulatory Law, and Economic Instruments," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-24, March.
    18. Elinor Hallström & Quentin Gee & Peter Scarborough & David A. Cleveland, 2017. "A healthier US diet could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both the food and health care systems," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 199-212, May.
    19. Röös, Elin & Patel, Mikaela & Spångberg, Johanna & Carlsson, Georg & Rydhmer, Lotta, 2016. "Limiting livestock production to pasture and by-products in a search for sustainable diets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-13.
    20. Maurizio Canavari & Silvia Coderoni, 2020. "Consumer stated preferences for dairy products with carbon footprint labels in Italy," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-16, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:7:p:231-:d:385597. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.