Assessing the Monetary Value and Environmental Impact of Household Food Waste in Italy

Marta Antonelli (), Claudia Giordano, Maria Vincenza Chiriacò, Silene Casari, Elena Cadel, Pin-Jane Chen, Andrea Magnani, Gabriele Pizzileo, Luca Falasconi, Fabrizio Alboni and Clara Cicatiello
Additional contact information
Marta Antonelli: Barilla Foundation, 43122 Parma, Italy
Claudia Giordano: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 00790 Helsinki, Finland
Maria Vincenza Chiriacò: Foundation CMCC—Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Silene Casari: Barilla Foundation, 43122 Parma, Italy
Elena Cadel: Barilla Foundation, 43122 Parma, Italy
Pin-Jane Chen: Barilla Foundation, 43122 Parma, Italy
Andrea Magnani: Barilla Foundation, 43122 Parma, Italy
Gabriele Pizzileo: Foundation CMCC—Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Luca Falasconi: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Fabrizio Alboni: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Clara Cicatiello: Department of Innovation in Biology, Agri-Food and Forest System, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: Household food waste accounts for a significant share of total food waste. In 2022, around 1.05 billion tons of food waste were generated—60% of which came from households. In the EU, households generate 54% of the total food waste. In Italy, according to a former diary study, avoidable household food waste accounts for 529.9 g per capita per week. Building on this data, this study assesses the monetary value of food waste at the household level in 6 provinces across the country, considering the prices of food items recorded by the Italian Observatory of market prices. Moreover, the environmental impacts of household food waste (greenhouse gas emissions, water consumed, and land used) were investigated based on existing data from well-grounded scientific literature. The results show that the monetary value of food waste ranges from EUR 357.43 to EUR 404.62 per household per year, corresponding to 5–7% of the average household expenditure for food. The environmental impacts per household per year account for 149 kgCO 2 eq, which contributes to climate change. In addition, household food waste is responsible for 303,498 L of water consumed and 1426 m 2 of land used. The results of this study can be integrated into National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), to integrate food waste reduction into energy savings and greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.

Keywords: household food waste; monetary value; carbon footprint; environmental impact; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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