Socioeconomic Impacts of Food Waste Reduction in the European Union

Vidas Lekavičius (), Viktorija Bobinaitė, Daina Kliaugaitė and Kristina Rimkūnaitė
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Vidas Lekavičius: Laboratory of Energy Systems Research, Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos g. 3, 44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Viktorija Bobinaitė: Laboratory of Energy Systems Research, Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos g. 3, 44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Daina Kliaugaitė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio g. 20, 44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Kristina Rimkūnaitė: Laboratory of Energy Systems Research, Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos g. 3, 44403 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: Food waste is a global multidimensional problem, with economic, social, and environmental dimensions linked to sustainable development. This study analyses the socio-economic and pollution effects of reducing food waste in the European Union. The food waste reduction scenarios analysed cover all segments of the supply chain from primary production to household consumption. Using the economy-wide model SAMmodEU, the impact of the scenarios is analysed in the context of the whole economy. Most scenarios analysed demonstrate positive socioeconomic effects in terms of a slight increase in gross domestic product and increasing employment. The multicriteria analysis indicates that the best overall performance is achieved by reducing food waste in the foodservice. It is recommended to focus on behaviour in policy design, thereby reducing food waste both in food services and in households and ensuring positive socioeconomic impacts.

Keywords: food waste; food loss; cleaner production; economic impacts; input—output analysis; social accounting matrix (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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