Environmental and Cost Impacts of Food Waste in University Canteen from a Life Cycle Perspective

Jing Li, Wei Li, Lei Wang and Baihui Jin
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Jing Li: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Wei Li: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Lei Wang: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Baihui Jin: School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: Food waste has caused double waste of resources in the food itself and the food supply chain of production, transportation, cooking, and processing, resulting in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and economic losses. This paper first conducted the quantification of students’ food waste and the collection of canteens operation data in the three canteens at Taiyuan University of Technology (China) in 2019 through the weighing method and interview. Then an integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing was used to quantify the impact of food waste in university canteens on the environment and costs. The study found that the total amount of food waste in the university canteens with 22,000 students was 246.75 t/a, the carbon footprint caused by food waste was 539.28 t CO 2 -eq, and the cost was 4,729,900 yuan. Most of the impact of canteen meals on the environment comes from the use of energy in food cooking and the consumption of animal food types. The innovative integration of life cycle cost calculations highlights the key role of the labor required for cooking. The research results answer the basic scientific questions of how much food is wasted in the university canteens, and the carbon emissions and cost ratios of these wasted food in all links of the supply chain. The research results can provide a policy-making basis and data support for reducing food waste in universities and realizing carbon emission reduction in university canteens.

Keywords: food waste; life cycle assessment (LCA); life cycle costing (LCC); university canteen; weight method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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