Household Perceptions on the Influence of Food Package Sizes on Food Waste LeVels

摘要

The environmental impacts of food packaging are usually fairly low compared with those of the entire food product-package system. The basic functions of packaging are to protect food and facilitate its distribution. Packaging that fails to fulfill these functions results in greater food waste accompanying adverse environmental impacts. Thus, food packaging can play an essential role in minimizing environmental impacts of the product- package system when losses of (once) edible food are taken into account. In this study the relationship between household food waste and packaging, particularly package size, was investigated by analyzing data from a Finnish food waste survey. The findings emphasized the importance of package size in preventing food waste at the household level, and consequently reducing environmental impacts of product-package systems. A food waste diary study of 380 Finnish households revealed that a household's belief in the ability to reduce its food waste by buying food in smaller packages resulted in significantly more food waste per capita than for the households that did not share such a belief. Furthermore, respondents living in households of different types or sizes appeared to have diverse perceptions of the role of package sizes in preventing food waste in their households. The study indicated that households with fewer occupants had a stronger belief in their abilities to reduce food waste if food was sold and bought in smaller packages.