| 1. |
- Bergström, Pauline, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability Assessment of Food Redistribution Initiatives in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Resources. - : MDPI AG. - 2079-9276. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food banks that redistribute surplus food from retailers and the food industry to people in need are not a new concept globally, but their connection to food waste prevention is new. As a result, new types of food redistribution units are emerging and diversifying to find new target groups and distribution methods. The aim of this study was to identify and study surplus food redistribution units in Sweden,and then to assess the impact on several sustainability indicators for selected redistribution units, in order to increase knowledge on the types of values these redistribution concepts generate. The methods used for analyzing the scenarios were Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The results showed that providing food bags to socially exposed people generated the largest reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per kg of redistributed food (−1.2 kg CO2eq./FU). Reprocessing surplus food to a high-quality end-product was attributed a high social value, due to job creation effects in the high number of working hours required per kg of redistributed food. With regard to economic impacts, all but two scenarios studied had monthly financial losses,and therefore needed other sources of financial support.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL KNOW AS YOU THROW TOOLS FOR HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE REDUCTION
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sardinia: International Waste Management and Landfill Symposia Proceedings. - 2282-0027.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The global food system contributes to climate change, land use changes, freshwater depletion, and ecosystem pollution. Reducing food waste is crucial for sustainable solutions, as reflected in the United Nations' goal to halve food waste by 2030. However, current methods to quantify food waste lack primary data for benchmarking progress, particularly in households, which are major food waste generators in developed countries. Existing approaches include aggregate quantification, manual waste audits, and diary-keeping, but they have limitations such as incomplete data and low participation rates. Quantifying food waste is essential to understand the problem and measure the impact of waste reduction efforts. By applying automated measurement technologies research can advance significantly. The project aims to reduce food waste in Swedish households by developing a sensor-based system using standard components for automated quantification and characterization of food waste. The collected data will be used to provide feedback to households, promoting knowledge and motivation to reduce waste. A proof of concept was developed and implemented in four households. The prototypes includes a digital scale connected to a Raspberry Pi 4 single-board-computer and a camera. Each time something is discarded in the organic waste bag, a photo is taken, and the weight is recorded and categorized in a database. The result from the yearly long test period shows that this is a suitable tool for food waste quantification. However, the expected reduction in food waste was not observed. This could be due to the abcences of a pre-quantification baseline to compare with, or that the investigated households were not subjected to any designed intervention while the smart bins where operating.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Assessment of Upgrading Horticultural Side Streams—The Case of Unharvested Broccoli Leaves
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- : To facilitate transition to a sustainable food system, it is necessary to address food losses. A large proportion of waste occurs during primary production, with large quantities of edible crop parts left in the field at harvest. One such product is broccoli, where normally only around one-third of the edible parts of the plant are harvested in Sweden. Much of the broccoli plant consists of edible leaves and this side stream represents an unused resource with great potential. This study assessed the potential environmental savings that can be achieved by utilising broccoli side streams as a powder in soups and bread. Consequential and attributional life cycle assessments were conducted, based on scenarios relevant for growers in southern Sweden. The results showed that the scenario with the largest saving potential was to process the broccoli side streams into a powder for use in broccoli soup. The main saving was due to substitution of imported broccoli powder, which was assumed to be produced from broccoli florets using a more fossil-based energy mix. The second best scenario was to use the side-stream broccoli powder as a wheat substitute in bread but, since wheat flour is less resource-demanding than imported broccoli powder, the emission savings were lower in this case. However, replacing wheat flour with a vegetable-based product could provide additional health benefits that are important in achieving a healthy, locally available, and environmentally friendly diet suitable for a sustainable food system.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Guest attendance data from 34 Swedish pre-schools and primary schools
- 2021
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Ingår i: Data in Brief. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3409. ; 36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This data article describes 34 datasets, compiled into one table, describing guest attendance at lunch meal servings in Swedish public schools and preschools. Fifteen of the schools and all 16 of the preschools covered belong to one municipality, while the remaining three schools belong to two other municipalities, all located in central Sweden. Data on number of plates was used as a proxy of the number of guests eating lunch. Number of used plates was recorded from late August 2010 to early June 2020, i.e. covering the period both before and during the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, so that making possible to evaluate changes in guest attendance during the pandemic. Since these were real data, all data elements pertaining to exact canteens or staff identity have been removed. There is a scarcity of real business data for scientific and educational purposes, so these datasets can play an important role in research and education within catering management, consumption pattern analysis, machine learning, data mining and other fields.
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Making food waste illegal in Sweden – Potential gains from enforcing best practice in the public catering sector
- 2022
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Ingår i: Sustainable Production and Consumption. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-5509. ; 35, s. 229-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food waste is an inefficiency problem that needs to be reduced significantly to achieve a sustainable food system. Best practices and knowledge are available on how to reduce waste but large volumes of food are still wasted every year, so policies that support or enforce broader implementation of best practices are needed. One policy that could be used to push implementation and successful use of best practices to reduce food waste is the Swedish Environmental Code, which states that all actors must consider every possibility to reduce the amount of waste generated in any facility, unless this is unreasonably expensive. However, there is no clear definition on the actual waste reduction needed to comply with this requirement, so it is not enforced in practice.This study explored the potential gains of applying the Environmental Code, potential benchmarking thresholds for illegal levels of food waste and best voluntary practices that can achieve low levels of food waste. The Environmental Code is applicable to most operator food handling systems, and was assessed here using the Swedish public catering sector as a case. All 290 Swedish municipalities were asked to provide raw data for the study and some agreed, resulting in a dataset covering 458 public catering units serving care homes, schools and preschools. The data were analysed to identify different permissible levels of food waste, while the best canteens provided information on their best practices to keep food waste low.The results showed that with best voluntary practice for each type of catering unit, overall food waste would be reduced by up to 76 %. Best voluntary practices used by the best-performing canteens were identified as: ‘reusing buffet leftovers’, ‘adjusting recipes based on previous consumption’, ‘advising guests to start with small tasting portions’, ‘setting goals for waste reduction’ and ‘serving smaller volumes in buffet containers and refilling more often’. All these actions can realistically be implemented as standard practices by public catering organisations. The present analysis could not confirm that all these actions have actually been implemented, or to what extent, but practical implementation of identified best voluntary practices meeting stated benchmarks is recommended.The Environmental Code is technology-neutral and goal-oriented and participating food business operators are not forced by law or official regulations to introduce resource-saving measures, but this study shows that some measures can lead to a large reduction in food waste. The study does not show whether harsh, i.e. costly, measures can be enforced on businesses, which can only be determined by case law (court practice). However, in the specific cases in this study, measures that could have been enforced based on the Environmental Code would have led to at least 76 % reduction in food waste. This would be a major step towards a sustainable food system.
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| 7. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Matsvinn i storkök: en analys av riskfaktorer och föreslagna åtgärder
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Matsvinn är ett problem som uppkommer längs hela livsmedelskedjan och leder till att mat produceras i onödan. Denna onödiga matproduktion bidrar till utsläpp som påverkar miljön samt förbrukar ändliga resurser. Matsvinn som uppstår i svenska storkök används ofta till att producera biogas för att ta tillvara energi och näringsämnen i maten. Trots denna återvinning är det ändå ett stort slöseri av resurser att producera bränsle av ätbar mat från slutet av värdekedjan. Därför finns ett stort behov av att förebygga matsvinn för att få en mer hållbar livsmedelskedja. Det florerar ett flertal råd om vad storkök bör göra för att minska matsvinnet eller vad de bör undvika att göra men få av dessa råd tycks ha studerats närmare för att utröna hur stor påverkan de faktiskt har på svinnet i storkök. Syftet med denna studie var därför är att undersöka om och i så fall hur mycket sex olika riskfaktorer och åtgärder påverkar matsvinnet i storkök. För att beräkna effekten av dessa riskfaktorer och åtgärder användes insamlad statistik från Sala kommun där samtliga kök inom skola, förskola och äldreomsorg ingick. Mätningarna av matsvinn kompletterades med ytterligare information om antalet ätande samt en enkätundersökning som frågade skolelever om vilka maträtter som föredrogs respektive inte föredrogs. Analysen av respektive åtgärd och riskfaktor gjordes genom att jämföra det genomsnittliga svinnet när åtgärden varit applicerad med medelvärdet då åtgärden inte varit applicerad. Av de sex riskfaktorerna och åtgärderna som analyserats i denna studie var det användandet av mottagningskök och serverandet av fler lunchalternativ än ett, som genererade mest svinn. Information till elever om mätning och att ha ett flexibelt alternativ i menyn hade en reducerande effekt på svinnet, dock var effekten inte lika stor som de två första riskfaktorerna. Att större enheter genererar mer svinn var endast sant för tallrikssvinn men totalt sett minskade svinnet något när storleken på köken ökade eftersom serveringssvinnet var lägre i stora kök. Att populära maträtter skulle resultera i extra mycket svinn kunde inte beläggas då resultaten pekade på motsatsen, nämligen att populära maträtter kasseras i mindre omfattning än opopulära maträtter. Eftersom de analyserade riskfaktorerna och åtgärderna korrelerar olika starkt med totalt svinn är en rekommendation att kommuner på lång sikt bör konvertera mottagningskök till tillagningskök, samt begränsa antalet serverade lunchalternativ. På kort sikt bör kommunerna lägga in ett flexibelt alternativ i menyn och informera elever om matsvinnsmätningar, vilket då förutsätter att mätningar faktiskt genomförs. Kommuner behöver däremot inte vara oroliga att populära maträtter eller att stora enheter ska generera mer svinn.
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| 8. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Matsvinn i storkök: en kvantitativ fallstudie av måltidsverksamhet i Sala
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Matsvinn är ett problem som uppkommer längs hela livsmedelskedjan och leder till att mat produceras i onödan. Denna onödiga matproduktion bidrar till utsläpp som påverkar miljön samt förbrukar ändliga resurser. Matsvinn som uppstår i storkök används ofta till att producera biogas för att ta tillvara energin i maten, men trots denna återvinning är det ändå ett stort slöseri av resurser att producera bränsle av ätbar mat som befinner sig i slutet av värdekedjan. Därför finns det ett stort behov av att förebygga matsvinn för att få en mer hållbar livsmedelskedja. Ett första steg mot att hitta metoder för att förebygga matsvinn i storkök är att kvantifiera matsvinnet och identifiera problemområden så att olika åtgärder kan sättas in där de har störst effekt. Syftet med denna studie var därför att kartlägga kasserade kvantiteter mat för att identifiera problemområden med högt svinn. Detta genomfördes i Sala kommun där samtliga kök inom skola, förskola och äldreomsorg deltog. Mätningar av matsvinn genomfördes under tre perioder med fyra mätveckor i varje period och fokuserade främst på tallriksavskrap samt rester från serveringen. Matsvinnet jämfördes med antalet ätande gäster vilket baserades på antalet använda tallrikar. Svinnet jämfördes även med den serverade matens massa för att få fram fler relativa nyckeltal. Summerat för alla undersökta kök kasserades 75 g mat per serverad portion under mätperioden. Detta motsvarade 23 % svinn i relation till den serverade matens massa. Svinnet bestod till största delen av serveringssvinn (64 %) följt av tallrikssvinn (33 %) och övrigt (3 %). Svinnet var ojämnt fördelat och det fanns betydande variation mellan olika kök. Även beroende på vilka gäster som serverades hade betydelse för svinnet då äldreboenden hade högst svinn med 90 g per serverad portion, följt av skolköken som hade 79 g svinn per serverad portion och förskolor med 51 g svinn per serverad portion. Identifierade problemområden var främst specialkosten som var kategorin av mat vilken hade högts svinn i relation till den serverade matens massa. I övrigt var det främst skolköken som identifierade som ett problemområde då de bidrog till den största andelen av kommunens sammanlagda svinn samt hade betydligt högre svinn per serverad portion än exempelvis förskolor. Det fanns en betydande variation mellan olika kök och det är uppenbart att problemområden behöver identifieras på köksnivå snarare än på aggregerad kommunnivå för att kunna hitta åtgärder som löser de problem enskilda kök visar upp. Genom att lösa enskilda köks problem bör det finnas god potential att minska matsvinnet och därmed bidra till en mer hållbar livsmedelskedja.
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| 9. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Quantification of food waste in public catering services : A case study from a Swedish municipality
- 2017
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Ingår i: Waste Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0956-053X .- 1879-2456. ; 61, s. 415-422
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food waste is a major problem that must be reduced in order to achieve a sustainable food supply chain. Since food waste valorisation measures, like energy recovery, have limited possibilities to fully recover the resources invested in food production, there is a need to prevent food waste. Prevention is most important at the end of the value chain, where the largest number of sub-processes have already taken place and occur in vain if the food is not used for its intended purpose, i.e. consumption. Catering facilities and households are at the very end of the food supply chain, and in Sweden the public catering sector serves a large number of meals through municipal organisations, including schools, preschools and elderly care homes. Since the first step in waste reduction is to establish a baseline measurement in order to identify problems, this study sought to quantify food waste in schools, preschools and elderly care homes in one municipality in Sweden. The quantification was conducted during three months, spread out over three semesters, and was performed in all 30 public kitchen units in the municipality of Sala. The kitchen staff used kitchen scales to quantify the mass of wasted and served food divided into serving waste (with sub-categories), plate waste and other food waste. The food waste level was quantified as 75 g of food waste per portion served, or 23% of the mass of food served. However, there was great variation between kitchens, with the waste level ranging from 33 g waste per portion served (13%) to 131 g waste per portion served (34%). Wasted food consisted of 64% serving waste, 33% plate waste and 3% other food waste. Preschools had a lower waste level than schools, possibly due to preschool carers eating together with the children. Kitchens that received warm food prepared in another kitchen (satellite kitchens) had a 42% higher waste level than kitchens preparing all food themselves (production units), possibly due to the latter having higher flexibility in cooking the right amount of food and being able to chill and save surplus food. The large variation between kitchens indicates that they have different causes of food waste, but also different opportunities to reduce it. Detailed waste quantification for each kitchen can therefore be the first step in the process of waste reduction.
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| 10. |
- Eriksson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Quantities and quantification methodologies of food waste in Swedish hospitals
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To move towards a sustainable food system, we cannot continue to waste substantial amounts of the food produced. This is especially true for later stages in the food supply chain, where most sub-processes consume resources in vain when food is wasted. Hospitals are located at the end of the food supply chain and the sector has high levels of food waste. This study investigated food waste quantification practices in Swedish hospitals, examined whether a questionnaire is an appropriate methodology for such mapping, and compiled data for the sector in order to determine the amount of food waste and its composition. A questionnaire was sent to all 21 regional authorities, formerly known as county councils, responsible for hospitals in Sweden. The questionnaire responses were supplemented with food waste records from three regions that organize the catering in a total of 20 hospitals. The results showed that it is common practice in most hospitals to quantify food waste, with quantification focusing on lunch and dinner in relation to the number of guests served. It was also clear that waste quantification practices have been established for years, and in the majority of the hospitals studied. The data revealed that, in comparison with other sectors, food waste was still high, 111 g guest(-1) meal(-1), consisting of 42% plate waste, 36% serving waste, and 22% kitchen waste. However, there was great variation between hospitals, which, in combination with well-established, standardized waste quantification routines, meaning that this sector has strong potential to spread best practices and improve overall performance in reducing food waste generation.
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