A framework to quantify mass flow and assess food loss and waste in the US food supply chain
Abstract
Abstract Reducing food loss and waste can improve the efficiency of food supply chains and provide food security. Here we estimate mass flow as well as food loss and waste along the US food supply chain for 10 commodity groups and nine management pathways to provide a baseline for designing efficient strategies to reduce, recycle, and recover food loss and waste. We estimate a total food loss and waste of 335.4 million metric tonnes from the U.S. food supply chain in 2016. Water evaporation (19%), recycling (55%), and landfill, incineration, or wastewater treatment (23%) accounted for most of the loss and waste. The consumption stage accounted for 57% of the food loss and waste disposed of through landfill, incineration, or wastewater treatment. Manufacturing was the largest contributor to food loss and waste (61%) but had a high recycling rate. High demand, perishable products accounted for 67% of food waste. We suggest that funding for infrastructure and incentives for earlier food donation can promote efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain, promote FLW collection and recycling along the U.S. FSC, and improve consumer education in order to move towards a circular economy.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1861231
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1864451
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Communications Earth & Environment Journal Volume: 3 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2662-4435
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; environmental impact; sustainability
Citation Formats
Dong, Wenquan, Armstrong, Kristina, Jin, Mingzhou, Nimbalkar, Sachin, Guo, Wei, Zhuang, Jie, and Cresko, Joe. A framework to quantify mass flow and assess food loss and waste in the US food supply chain. United Kingdom: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00414-9.
Dong, Wenquan, Armstrong, Kristina, Jin, Mingzhou, Nimbalkar, Sachin, Guo, Wei, Zhuang, Jie, & Cresko, Joe. A framework to quantify mass flow and assess food loss and waste in the US food supply chain. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00414-9
Dong, Wenquan, Armstrong, Kristina, Jin, Mingzhou, Nimbalkar, Sachin, Guo, Wei, Zhuang, Jie, and Cresko, Joe. Tue .
"A framework to quantify mass flow and assess food loss and waste in the US food supply chain". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00414-9.
@article{osti_1861231,
title = {A framework to quantify mass flow and assess food loss and waste in the US food supply chain},
author = {Dong, Wenquan and Armstrong, Kristina and Jin, Mingzhou and Nimbalkar, Sachin and Guo, Wei and Zhuang, Jie and Cresko, Joe},
abstractNote = {Abstract Reducing food loss and waste can improve the efficiency of food supply chains and provide food security. Here we estimate mass flow as well as food loss and waste along the US food supply chain for 10 commodity groups and nine management pathways to provide a baseline for designing efficient strategies to reduce, recycle, and recover food loss and waste. We estimate a total food loss and waste of 335.4 million metric tonnes from the U.S. food supply chain in 2016. Water evaporation (19%), recycling (55%), and landfill, incineration, or wastewater treatment (23%) accounted for most of the loss and waste. The consumption stage accounted for 57% of the food loss and waste disposed of through landfill, incineration, or wastewater treatment. Manufacturing was the largest contributor to food loss and waste (61%) but had a high recycling rate. High demand, perishable products accounted for 67% of food waste. We suggest that funding for infrastructure and incentives for earlier food donation can promote efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain, promote FLW collection and recycling along the U.S. FSC, and improve consumer education in order to move towards a circular economy.},
doi = {10.1038/s43247-022-00414-9},
journal = {Communications Earth & Environment},
number = 1,
volume = 3,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Tue Apr 05 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Tue Apr 05 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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