The costs of household food waste in South Africa |
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| Authors: | Anton Nahman Willem de Lange Suzan Oelofse Linda Godfrey |
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| Institution: | 1. Sustainability Science and Resource Economics Research Group, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, P.O. Box 320, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa;2. Pollution and Waste Research Group, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;1. Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh;2. Bauhaus University of Weimar, Germany;3. University of Padova, Italy;1. University of Tuscia, Italy;2. Sapienza University of Rome, Italy;1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark;2. Econet AS, Omøgade 8, 2. sal, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;1. Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236 Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon;2. Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236 Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon;1. Precision Agriculture for Development, 32 Atlantic Avenue, Pilot House – Lewis Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, USA;2. Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University, 301G Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA |
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| Abstract: | Food waste is problematic for a number of reasons, including the loss of a potentially valuable food source or resource for use in other processes (e.g. energy generation or composting), wasted resources and emissions in the food supply chain, and problems associated with the disposal of organic waste to landfill. This paper quantifies the household food waste stream in South Africa, in order to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem. In addition, it estimates the economic (monetary) value of the wasted food, as well as the costs associated with disposing putrescible food waste to landfill, in order to highlight the associated costs to society. Costs associated with the loss of a potentially valuable food source are valued using a weighted average market price of the wasted food. Costs associated with the disposal of food waste to landfill are quantified based on estimates of the financial and external costs associated with landfilling. For household food waste alone, the costs to society associated with these two food-waste related problems are estimated at approximately R21.7 billion (approximately US$2.7 billion) per annum, or 0.82% of South Africa’s annual GDP. These costs are therefore significant, particularly considering that household food waste accounts for less than 4% of total food losses across the food supply chain. |
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