An Analysis of Food Waste in Czech Households-A Contribution to the International Reporting Effort

• Published in: Foods Vol. 10; no. 4; p. 875
• Main Authors: Nováková, Petra, Hák, Tomáš, Janoušková, Svatava
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16-04-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Capitalism; Climate change; Consumption; Czech Republic; Diaries; Emissions; Food; Food analysis; Food science; Food supply; Food waste; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; household waste; Household wastes; Households; Industrialized nations; International regulations; kitchen diaries; Per capita; Sustainable development; Waste management; waste monitoring; Waste streams; Czech Republic; Europe; sustainable development; Czech Republic; kitchen diaries; household waste; waste monitoring; food waste
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods10040875

Food waste originating in households in the Czech Republic is an important but unknown issue. Due to the country's membership among the most developed economies (European Union, OECD) and its commitments towards UN Sustainable Development Goals, the government must, inter alia, significantly reduce household food waste. However, reliable data and indicators based on internationally agreed approaches and methods have been missing so far. This article brings original results from a survey comprising over 400 Czech households based on the kitchen diaries method showing that, on average, surveyed households discarded 2.6 kg (1.1 kg per capita) weekly. After extrapolation, the total food waste was estimated to be 135.7 kg per household or 57.1 kg per capita annually. Half of the total food waste from surveyed households was thrown into municipal bins for mixed waste. Despite a relatively low total food waste stream, its disposal needs substantial improvement to meet national and international regulations as well as sustainability criteria.