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Households’ Food Waste Behavior at Local Scale: A Cluster Analysis after the COVID-19 Lockdown

Author

Listed:
  • Vera Amicarelli

    (Department of Economics, Management and Business Law, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124 Bari, Italy)

  • Caterina Tricase

    (Department of Economics, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Alessia Spada

    (Department of Economics, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Christian Bux

    (Department of Economics, Management and Business Law, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124 Bari, Italy)

Abstract

The reduction of food waste, especially in households where more than half of its global quantity is generated, has become an increasing economic, social and environmental concern, and represents one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals within the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. In this context, the COVID-19 lockdown has significantly changed life, work and food consumption habits all over the world, highlighting food waste as a multi-sectorial issue. This paper explores current attitudes, perception and behavioral patterns related to food waste reduction at domestic consumption at the local scale (Apulia region, Italy), with the aim of identifying different types of “food wasters”. Through an online questionnaire and the application of a k-means clustering model, the authors focus on four emerging constructs in terms of food consumption and food waste habits after the COVID-19 lockdown at household level. Among three theoretical clusters, results have highlighted: (i) the paradox of the “green wasters”, which declared a high level of awareness of the food waste issue but also generates huge amounts of thrown away food; (ii) the “positive unawareness” of the “red wasters”, which have a slight notion of environment and sustainability but waste low quantities of food; (iii) the consistency of the “blue wasters”, which know of the food waste issue and convert theory into practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Vera Amicarelli & Caterina Tricase & Alessia Spada & Christian Bux, 2021. "Households’ Food Waste Behavior at Local Scale: A Cluster Analysis after the COVID-19 Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3283-:d:518126
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Borghesi & Piergiuseppe Morone, 2023. "A review of the effects of COVID-19 on food waste," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 261-280, February.
    2. Koel Roychowdhury & Radhika Bhanja & Sushmita Biswas, 2022. "Mapping the research landscape of Covid-19 from social sciences perspective: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(8), pages 4547-4568, August.
    3. Celia Sama-Berrocal & Beatriz Corchuelo Martínez-Azúa, 2022. "How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected the Different Branches of the Agri-Food Industry in Extremadura (Spain)?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-29, June.
    4. Mario Amato & Fabio Verneau & Adele Coppola & Francesco La Barbera, 2021. "Domestic Food Waste and Covid-19 Concern: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Konrad Żukiewicz & Agnieszka Dudziak & Tomasz Słowik & Jacek Mazur & Patrycja Łusiak, 2022. "Analysis of the Problem of Waste in Relation to Food Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    6. Ulrich Jürgens, 2023. "Does Food Shopping Behaviour Determine Food Waste Vulnerability in Private Households? Quantitative Analysis on Case Studies from Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-26, March.
    7. Theodoridis, Prokopis K. & Zacharatos, Theofanis V., 2022. "Food waste during Covid- 19 lockdown period and consumer behaviour – The case of Greece," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Lingfei Wang & Yuqin Yang & Guoyan Wang, 2022. "The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Chen Liu & Pongsun Bunditsakulchai & Qiannan Zhuo, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on Food and Plastic Waste Generated by Consumers in Bangkok," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Idiano D’Adamo & Rocío González-Sánchez & Maria Sonia Medina-Salgado & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "E-Commerce Calls for Cyber-Security and Sustainability: How European Citizens Look for a Trusted Online Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    11. Idiano D’Adamo & Rocío González-Sánchez & Maria Sonia Medina-Salgado & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Methodological Perspective for Assessing European Consumers’ Awareness of Cybersecurity and Sustainability in E-Commerce," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-10, October.
    12. Ana Curutchet & Patricia Arcia & Fátima Prisco & Amparo Tarrega, 2023. "Brewer’s Spent Grain Used in Fiber-Enriched Burgers—Influence of Sustainability Information on Consumer Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-11, February.
    13. Maria-Georgeta Moldovan & Dan-Cristian Dabija & Cristina Bianca Pocol, 2022. "Resources Management for a Resilient World: A Literature Review of Eastern European Countries with Focus on Household Behaviour and Trends Related to Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-13, June.
    14. Mariarosaria Lombardi & Marco Costantino, 2021. "A Hierarchical Pyramid for Food Waste Based on a Social Innovation Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, April.

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