Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung von Maßnahmen zur Vermeidung von Lebensmittelabfällen

In recent years the topic of food waste (and food loss) has increasingly become the focus of both the public and research. While a large number of studies make recommendations of food waste reduction measures, or put these into practice, so far there are only a few approaches that deal with the evaluation of these measures. To achieve a substantial reduction of food waste and losses it is important to identify both positive and negative impacts of a food waste reduction measure in order to prioritize measures according to their reduction potential and their efficiency. The present working paper addresses the sustainability assessment of food waste reduction measures. On the one hand, a possible assessment approach is presented and the necessary evaluation criteria are described. On the other hand, this methodology is then applied to the exemplary evaluation of three measures of the REFOWAS project. The procedure is based on an evaluation framework put forward by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The following core statements can be derived from the evaluation process: • The evaluation process needs to be incorporated into the conception of food waste measures in order to determine their effectivity and efficiency in a profound manner. • To assess the efficiency of a food waste prevention measure, not only potential savings must be considered but also additional costs associated with its implementation. • It is estimated that the measure “protected cultivation (of strawberries and raspberries)” leads to a reduction of food loss by about 50 % – from 15 – 20 % in open land cultivation to 7 – 10 % in protected cultivation. • A “digital forecasting tool for small and medium-sized bakeries” has led to a reduction of return rates in all three participating bakeries (from about 12.7 % - 17.6 % to 11.5 % - 16.2 %). For one of these bakeries, we calculated an economic efficiency of 4.38 to 1; thus, with every Euro invested, 4.38 € can be saved. • The implementation of a combination of measures in school catering has led to a reduction of waste rates (amount of food waste in relation to amounts of food produced) from 33 % to 25 % during one year in School A. Due to the fact that a sustainability assessment was not planned from the beginning of the REFOWAS project, some relevant data that would have been necessary for a sound assessment were sometimes missing. However, this partly insufficient quality of data is presented in a transparent manner, as this, too, can ultimately be an important insight for the implementation of future measures to reduce food waste or for the future design of food waste projects. As a result, the present working paper does not aim for a complete and comprehensive sustainability assessment of all of REFOWAS food waste measures, but rather at the presentation of the assessment approach and its exemplary application for three selected measures. In order to broaden the scientific state of knowledge, the methodology presented in this paper should be applied more frequently in the future in order to verify its practicability. If it proves to be beneficial and effective, a standardised assessment methodology should be introduced to compare food waste reduction measures, their impacts and efficiencies