Forebyggelse af madspild i husholdninger - EU, den danske regering og Frederiksberg kommunes indsats

摘要

This thesis concerns the environmental consequences caused by household food waste and aims to answer the following thesis statement:Which tools will the European Union, the Danish Government and the Municipality of Frederiksberg make use of in order to prevent household food waste and what barriers do these actions pose? In order to answer this question the thesis draws on a wide range of directives, strategies, peer reviewed articles, international and national qualitative and quantitative research reinforced by informant interviews with relevant actors.The revised EU Waste Framework Directive sets legal obligations for Member States to adopt waste prevention programmes and stresses the need for focus on food waste. The lack of specifications regarding budget, initiatives and responsibility, as well as difficulty regarding data comparability and establishing indicators have been identified as barriers for the effectiveness of the programmes. The EU has withdrawn the proposed non-binding reduction target of 30 % by 2025 for food waste, which can cause delay in Member State actions and undermine the trust in the ambitions of the EU. Media coverage, information and awareness raising campaigns based on providing simple tips, tools and techniques are conducted by the EU and the Danish Government, though in need to be strengthened by harder measures. As reasons for food waste occurring depend on several interdependent direct and indirect influences such as age, time availability, fussy eaters, the presence of children and cooking skills, effective campaigns can be challenging to design. The political interest and focus on sustainable energy production and increased recycling rates can potentially overshadow and reduce the efforts to prevent household food waste. Targeted information about prevention of household food waste in relation to new recycling services for bio waste can be a useful tool for the Municipality of Frederiksberg. A number of measures can be adopted by retailers, which can have a positive impact on reducing the amounts of food waste in households. The EU and the Danish Government can push to make changes to product design, labelling and packaging through increased and improved collaboration with retailers, though this is not a role they usually undertake. Retailers' focus on profits can be seen as another barrier to be overcome in this context. The Danish translation of EU date labelling has caused confusion among consumers, which is why the Danish Government has improved this translation and launched information regarding this change.