New Zealand’s Food Waste: Estimating the Tonnes, Value, Calories and Resources Wasted

Christian Reynolds, Miranda Mirosa and Brent Clothier
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Miranda Mirosa: Consumer Food Science, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Brent Clothier: Plant & Food Research, Food Industry Science Centre, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand

Agriculture, 2016, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: We used macro-economic data and aggregated waste data to estimate that, in 2011, New Zealand households generated over 224,000 tonnes of food waste, and New Zealand industry generated over 103,000 tonnes of food waste. We split New Zealand’s food waste into 14 food-waste categories and found that 7% is related to “fresh” produce, and 93% “processed” food waste. The value of New Zealand’s food waste in 2011 is estimated to be NZ $568 million, or $131 per person. Furthermore, New Zealand’s food waste represents 163 × 10 9 calories in total, and avoidable food waste would be able to feed between 50,000 and 80,000 people a year. New Zealand food waste embodies 4.2 × 10 6 tonnes of CO 2 -e, 4.7 × 10 9 m 3 of water, and 29 × 10 3 TJ of energy. Nonetheless, we find that, compared to other nations, New Zealanders waste less food per capita by weight, value and calorie.

Keywords: food waste; input-output; life cycle analysis; food security; New Zealand; food losses; wastage; footprint; SEEA; LCA; Life Cycle Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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