Impact of Food Wastage on Ecosystem and Environment

This study explores the impact of food wastage on the environment and ecosystem, its consequences, and strategies to reduce or manage food wastage. It also includes food wastage statistics in Australia and links to the Australian curriculum.

Running head: Management
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Contents.................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction- Impact of Food Wastage on Ecosystem and Environment.................................1
Problem statement:................................................................................................................ 2
Ideal Situation:.................................................................................................................... 2
Reality:............................................................................................................................... 2
Consequences:.................................................................................................................. 3
Proposal:............................................................................................................................ 3
Rationale:............................................................................................................................... 3
Research Questions:.............................................................................................................. 4
Methodology:.......................................................................................................................... 4
Resource Identification:..........................................................................................................5
Discussion and findings:.........................................................................................................5
Preventable Causes of Food Wastage:..............................................................................5
Food Wastage statistics in Australia:..................................................................................6
Impacts of Food Wastage:..................................................................................................7
Importance of reducing food wastage:................................................................................7
Strategies to reduce or manage food wastage:..................................................................8
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................ 8
Links to Australian Curriculum:...............................................................................................9
References:.......................................................................................................................... 11

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Introduction- Impact of Food Wastage on Ecosystem and Environment
Estimates from the United Nations show that one in every nine people on earth does
not have sufficient access to food in order to lead a healthy life and more deaths are caused
due to hunger and starvation than from malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis combined (fao.org.,
2019; news.un.org, 2019). However, at the same time, almost a third of the food being
produced ends up being wasted for various reasons. The wastage of food can be caused
due to both loss of food as well as wastage of food (news.un.org, 2019; blogs.worldbank.org,
2019). Wasting food therefore is not only wrong morally, but also can cause economic loss
as well as impact the ecosystem and environment (blogs.worldbank.org, 2019). According to
Balaji and Arshinder (2016), events such as natural calamities or due to a lack of resources,
skills or infrastructure, while food wastage occurs when edible food is discarded intentionally
due to improper planning and storage of food or when the supply of the food exceeds the
demands (Priefer et al., 2016). A lot of food is also wasted by retailers when the food is
being discarded for not meeting their quality or aesthetic standards (Negi & Anand, 2018).
Studies by Sun et al. (2018) shows that more than 1.6 trillion tones of food is wasted
every year, most of which either gets dumped into the ocean or finds its way into the landfills
and is adversely impacting the ecosystems across the world. The wastage of food is also
causing a significant stress on the natural resources, adding to its depletion (Eriksson et al.,
2018).
The aim of this study is to understand the adverse impacts of food wastage on the
environment and ecosystem using qualitative data from academic literature, websites of
governments and retailers and survey questions and identify how the findings from the study
can be related to the Australian academic curriculum.
Problem statement:
The aim of developing a problem statement is to understand the problem better by
describing the existing environment, where the problems occurring, how it is affecting the
environment as well as understand what the ideal outcomes or desired conditions should be.
Based on such understanding, a proposal for potential solutions can be developed that can
be implemented to address the problem (Priefer et al., 2016).
Ideal Situation:
The ideal situation for this problem is where food is not being wasted for preventable
or avoidable reasons such as improper storage, unplanned and irresponsible consumption
and instead using strategies to reuse or recycle food or composts them in order to prevent

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them from reaching the landfills or oceans. Apart from minimizing food waste, reusing waste
food for production of energy can also be an ideal situation that can significantly help to
reduce the carbon footprint of food waste and offset the waste of energy due to food
production (Cristóbal et al., 2018; Heller et al., 2018).
Reality:
In reality however, almost a third of the food being produced globally is wasted and
40% of the wastage is mainly due to preventable or avoidable causes. Moreover, a
significant amount of the waste food ends up in landfills and are not adequately recycled or
reused for other purposes such as animal feed, energy production or composting thereby
further aggravating the situation (Bugge et al., 2018; Castrica et al., 2018).
Consequences:
The wastage of food have several adverse consequences such as wastage of natural
resources such as energy, soil and water, unnecessary emission of greenhouse gases,
pollution of soil and water, loss of biodiversity as well as causing a loss of economy and
manpower. These factors clearly shows that food wastage can adversely impact out health
and wellbeing on the long term, as well as cause the loss of biodiversity and destruction of
the ecosystem thereby adversely impacting the environment (Graham et al., 2018; Castrica
et al., 2018).
Proposal:
The aim of the study is to understand how food waste impacts our environment and
ecosystem and thereby understand how it can impact us and sustainability of the
environment in the long term.
Rationale:
According to Abdelradi (2018), every year, more than 1.6 trillion tones of food is
wasted across the world, which amounts to approximately one third of the food produced.
This wastage causes economic losses of about 680 million USD in developed and 310
million USD in developing nations. The wastage of food is the most significant in rich
countries where almost 222 million tonnes of food gets wasted which is almost equal to the
net production of food (of 230 million tonnes) in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa and
equivalent to more than half of cereal crops produced across the world (Devin & Richards,
2018). Moreover the per capita waste of food in Europe and North America is almost 120 kg
every year, while for Asia and Africa it is almost 6-12 kg per year (Kibler et al., 2018).

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Abdelradi (2018) also suggested that in developing nations, almost 40% of food waste
occurs at consumer and retail levels.
The wastage of food not only causes wastage of resources such as water, land,
energy, labor and money but also causes an increase in the emission of greenhouse gases
thereby contributing to global climatic change (D'Odorico et al., 2018). Kibler et al. (2018)
pointed out that the food wastage is responsible for a global carbon footprint that is
equivalent to the emission of 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and
wastage of more than 250 cubic kilometer of water which is three times the volume of Lake
Geneva or the annual flow of Lake Volga (Usubiaga et al., 2018; Thyberg et al., 2015). The
wastage also causes more than 1.4 billion hectares or 28% of the total agricultural land in
the world being wasted. Considering that agricultural expansion is responsible for the
majority of threats to plant and animal species at risk of extinction, the wastage of food
therefore indirectly adds to the threat to the biodiversity and extinction of wildlife (Usubiaga
et al., 2018). The food waste also leads to the pollution of water as well as disrupt the food
chain thereby affecting the ecosystem (Bekchanov & Mirzabaev, 2018). Other studies have
shown that decomposition of discarded food also causes added emission of greenhouse
gases such as methane which is more harmful to atmosphere than carbon dioxide (Pham et
al., 2015).
Such factors clearly shows that wastage of food is a significant problem that is faced
by our civilization and is adversely affecting the environment, ecosystem as well as the
economy and overall wellbeing of humans.
Research Questions:
Based on the above understanding, the following research questions can be developed:
What causes the preventable wastage of food?
How wastage of food impacts the environment and ecosystem?
How wastage of food impacts economy?
Why is it necessary to avoid wastage of food?
How wastage of food can be managed and reduced effectively?
These questions can help to guide the study of the impact of food waste as well as
understand why and how food waste should be reduced so that the adverse impacts can be
mitigated (D'Odorico et al., 2018).

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Methodology:
In order to conduct the research in the proper manner, it is foremost important to
understand how the wastage of food impacts our environment and ecosystem as well as our
economy and resources. It is also important to understand how such adverse impacts can
be mitigated to ensure the sustainability of the environment and resources and therefore
safeguard biodiversity as well as out wellbeing (Devin & Richards, 2018).
For this study a qualitative approach is used in which secondary data is analyzed
thematically to identify the different factors associated with the research questions identified
above. The data would be collected from various sources such as academic articles,
governmental websites as well as through surveys conducted online. According to Merriam
and Tisdell (2015), a qualitative approach of study can help to evaluate the causative factors
to a greater detail and thus gain a better depth of understanding on the topic, understand the
observations and experiences of the people and provide a fluid framework for the study
allowing more flexibility to the researchers. Moreover, qualitative study also helps to create
industry specific insights incorporate creativity in the research process and can even be cost
effective due to smaller sample sizes. These factors show that a qualitative approach is well
suited for this study (Bryman, 2017).
Search Engines used: Google Scholar, NCBI PubMed
Boolean query: food wastage + impacts; food waste+ prevention
Filters: Researches in the last 5 years, qualitative surveys, peer to peer reviewed journals,
full text
Challenges: Prevalence of biased websites, shortage of statistical evidences
Resource Identification:
For this study the resources that can be utilized to collect secondary qualitative data
includes:
Academic Research Articles: The academic articles from research journals can provide an
accurate and updated information regarding findings from recent studies that can help to
address the research questions.
Governmental websites: The government websites can provide insights from national
statistics and surveys and provide nationwide data on the topic which can be used to explore
the research questions and support data from academic articles.

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Qualitative surveys: The surveys filled up by various respondents from various sectors in the
industry can help to gain a better understanding on the factors that contribute to food
wastage and its impacts.
Discussion and findings:
After an analysis of the qualitative data collected from the resources identified above,
the research questions could be explored and thus develop an understand the factors
contributing to them. Discussed below are the key understanding developed from the
research data:
Preventable Causes of Food Wastage:
Production: According to Kibler et al. (2018), a significant amount of food wastage is caused
due to overproduction and ineffective distribution of food. When the food production exceeds
demands, it leads to the excess of food being discarded or wasted. Also, ineffective or
unequal distribution of food between the economically or financially strong and weak
communities also contributed to food waste. Opinions from surveys from farmers also
support the same ideas (Devin & Richards, 2018).
Retail: Responses from workers in retail industries have shows that a large quantity of food
as well as raw materials gets discarded for not qualifying the quality or aesthetic standards
(Devin & Richards, 2018). D'Odorico et al. (2018) also suggested that food also gets wasted
while it is processed or packaged.
Consumers: Consumers also can cause wastage of food due to improper planning and
purchase of food or when the consumers prepare or purchase excess food they cannot
consume or store leading to excesses which is discarded (Bekchanov et al., 2018).
Improper storage: Improper storage of food by consumers, retail industries of food
businesses leads to spoilage of food thereby rendering them inconsumable or even toxic
thereby causing them to be discarded. This has been supported by many respondents of the
survey (Heller et al., 2018).
Over-preparation of food in restaurants and hotels: It has been suggested by several
workers in large and busy hotels that they generally follow the strategy to over prepare food
(preparing larger quality of food that actually required by the customers) especially during
the peak hours in order to be prepared for a large number of customers and reduce their
waiting times. However, this also leads to the food being wasted when the number of
customers is lesser than anticipated (Cristóbal et al., 2018; Bugge et al., 2018).

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Food Wastage statistics in Australia:
According to the Australian Government website, food wastage causes a loss of 20
billion AUD every year, causing the wastage of 3.1 million tons of food by the consumers
and 2.2 million tons by the commercial and industrial sectors (causing a total wastage of 4.3
million tons of food in Australia alone) (environment.gov.au, 2018). Reports from ABC news
shows that Australians throw away food that is worth about 7.8 billion AUD every year which
includes fresh food, leftovers, packaged food, drinks, frozen food and takeaway food. The
report also suggests that maximum of the food is wasted by individuals between 18 to 24
years and people living in households that have incomes more than 100,000 AUD annually.
In Sydney alone, 40.3% of the total municipal waste is contributed by waste food while in
Victoria it contributed to 41% of the total waste (Thyberg & Tonjes, 2016; abc.net.au, 2019).
Impacts of Food Wastage:
From the academic articles, the impacts of food wastage could be identified, which
has been briefly outlined below:
Wastage of natural resources: According to Thyberg and Tonjes (2016), wastage of food
leads to the underutilization and wastage of natural resources like water and energy that is
needed to grow, process and prepare the food thereby adversely impacting the environment
(Bekchanov & Mirzabaev, 2018).
Unnecessary emission of greenhouse gases: Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and
methane are also produced at various stages of growing, transporting, processing and
preparing food which also gets wasted when the food is discarded. Thus wasting food also
causes an unnecessary emission of greenhouse gases. Even discarded food can produce
methane due to its decomposition in landfills (Balaji & Arshinder, 2016).
Loss of Biodiversity: According to Negi and Anand (2018), all over the world large parts of
forest covers are cleared for food production which causes a stress to the biodiversity and
have endangered several plant and animal species. Wastage of food leads to the wastage of
the agrarian land and thus indirectly contributes to the loss of biodiversity (Sun et al., 2018).
Water Pollution: Food waste entering the water bodies as pollutants can lead to
eutrophication of the water due to an increase in the quantity of nutrients and thereby cause
an increase in microbe population. The increase in microbes can secondarily cause a
reduction in dissolved oxygen in water (biological oxygen demand) and suffocate other
aquatic life forms.

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Economic Impact: Statistics from governmental websites, news articles as well as academic
journals have shown that food wastage causes a significant economic loss, causing waste of
billions of dollars, thereby significantly impacting the economy (Graham et al., 2018).
Importance of reducing food wastage:
According to Castrica et al. (2018), it is important to manage food wastage as it can
help to protect the environment from the adverse impacts, ensure sustainability of the
environment as well as the natural resources and prevent the wastage of large amount of
money which can be used for the development of the country. Moreover, preventing the
wastage of food would also help to minimize water pollution and thus preserve aquatic
biodiversity and mitigate the adverse impacts of food wastage that has been identified
above. This suggests that reducing the wastage of food is an important consideration in our
society (Abdelradi, 2018).
Strategies to reduce or manage food wastage:
Based on academic articles, governmental websites and opinions from the surveys,
the following strategies were identified that can help to avoid wastage of food and thereby
mitigate its adverse impacts:
1. Balancing food production with food demand
2. Improving food storage systems and processes
3. Educating the customers on food waste reduction
4. Recycling consumable food
5. Composting food waste
6. Waste to energy conversion from waste food
7. Using food waste as animal feed
8. Developing stricter organizational policies on food wastage
9. Developing effective processing and packaging strategies to minimize wastage
10. Avoiding over preparation of food in hotels and restaurants
11. Properly planning food consumption to avoid purchase or preparation of excessive
food
(Cristóbal et al., 2018; Castrica et al., 2018; Abdelradi, 2018; Balaji & Arshinder, 2016)
Conclusion:
All over the world, more people die of starvation than due to malaria, AIDS and
tuberculosis combined. However at the same time almost a third of the world’s food

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production is wasted for different reasons. The waste food enters into the landfills and water
bodies and cause emission of greenhouse gases and pollutes the water and air. Food waste
also leads to wastage of natural resources that are used to grow process, transport or
prepare the food and leads to billions of dollars being wasted. The study analyses secondary
qualitative data from academic articles, governmental websites and surveys to understand
the impacts of food wastage and how it can be mitigated.
The important causes of wastage of food due to avoidable reasons include
overproduction and over preparation of food, wastage by retailers and consumers and
improper storage of food. In Australia alone almost 4.3 million tons of food is wasted
annually which is worth about 7.8 billion AUD and contributes to almost 40% of municipal
waste. The most significant impacts of food wastage includes wastage of natural resources,
unnecessary emissions of greenhouse gases, loss of biodiversity, water pollution as well as
economic strain. Based on such understanding several strategies are also identified which
can help to mitigate the impact of food waste and reduce the wastage of food.
If these strategies are implemented properly, it is possible to reduce the wastage of
food and prevent or mitigate the adverse impacts on the ecosystem and significantly offset
the economic losses caused by it and therefore help to foster the overall wellbeing of the
people as well as the environment.
Links to Australian Curriculum:
Education on the importance of minimizing food waste and how it helps the
environment is adequately addressed in almost all the years of Australian Education system.
Each year, a more complex knowledge is developed around the topic to help in the
development of a thorough understanding of it based on the academic contents:
Year Content Descriptor How it relates to the project
F 3 and 4 SHE Science Knowledge
helps people to understand the
effect of their actions
(ACSHE051, ACSHE062)
(ACARA, 2015)
This can be related to how wastage of food by
consumers and retailers have adversely
impacted the environment.
Specific Statement from Sustainability How it related to the project
O1.2 Systems. All life forms, including
human life, are interconnected through
This statement shows that the wellbeing of
humans are integrally related to that of the

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ecosystems on which they depend for their
wellbeing and survival (ACARA, 2015)
environment and ecosystem and therefore
adverse impacts on them can lead to
adverse impacts on human health and
wellbeing.
O1.5. World views are formed by
experiences at personal, local, national and
global levels and are linked to individual and
community actions for sustainability
(ACARA, 2015)
Even though many people do not consider
wastage of food as an important issue, such
viewpoints can be changed through
education at a personal, local, national as
well as global scale. This can help to attain
sustainability of the environment and
ecosystems on the long run.

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