Abstract | Life cycle-based environmental management of food-related waste in a student dining hall

On average, one-third of all food destined for human consumption is wasted globally. As a result, food waste is a major component of municipal solid waste (MSW). Recently, a switch to a new catering company for a student dining hall led to a the introduction of a new policy with the aim of composting all food waste. To reduce contamination of the food waste, it was decided to introduce sugarcane-based compostable containers and starch-based bio-plastic cutlery, replacing non-compostable plastic containers/cutlery and reusable plates/cutlery. However, approximately 332.7 kg of landfill waste was still produced on average per week following this change in policy, primarily due to the discarded compostable containers. To assess the environmental impacts of food waste management methods, a systematic review for existing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies was conducted to identify the best treatment method for food waste in the dining hall.

Nudge theory suggests that pro-environmental behaviour can be encouraged through small interventions in processes – by influencing consumer choices by activating the unconscious mind and altering human behaviour predictably. In the dining hall, nudging prompts from staff were trialled to influence customer choice of compostable versus reusable containers. With the status quo of providing a compostable container as default, average reusable plate usage was 4.2%. But when customers were offered a choice, and then offered plates as the default option, this rate rose to 25.1% and 37.2% respectively.

Overall, the results indicated that a “win-win” situation could be achieved with the use of nudging prompts by catering staff in the dining hall. Subsequently, this change in process has contributed towards a reduction in landfill waste per week in 36.1% to 212.7 kg on average.

Bio | Sarah Sandilands

Sarah Sandilands is a Masters student in Environmental Management working under the supervision of Sarah McLaren at Massey University, Palmerston North. She has received a BSc with a double major in Environmental Science and Zoology prior to completing her Masters. Her research interests include sustainability, life cycle assessment, waste management, behavioural change and environmental economics. She has been actively involved with promoting sustainability in the student dining hall on campus prompting her research focus of investigating food-related waste using a life cycle-based environmental management approach. She has also been involved in the Sustainability Operations Group, made up of representatives from Massey, Compass Catering, Palmerston North City Council and Campus Living Villages, meeting monthly to discuss ways to minimise waste at the Manawatu campus.