Around 6 million tonnes of edible food are being wasted (post-farm gate) in the UK each year. This fraction of edible wasted food is known as avoidable food waste. In a circular economy food is a valuable resource that must be captured at all stages of the food supply chain and, where possible, redistributed for consumption. This can prevent avoidable food waste generation, and dissipation of food’s multidimensional value that spans environmental, economic, social, technical and political/organisational impacts. While the importance and benefits of surplus food redistribution have been well documented in the global literature, there are still barriers that prevent perfectly edible food from being wasted. This study looks at the main stages of the food supply chain, and amasses the opportunities, challenges and trade-offs associated with surplus food redistribution to the UK economy. It highlights points in the food system where interventions can be made, to improve food’s circularity and sustainability potential. Stakeholder interrelations, regulatory and socio-economic aspects are discussed in relation to their influence on decreasing avoidable food waste. The main output from this work is a diagrammatic depiction of where challenges and trade-offs occur along the food supply chain, and how policy and socio-economic reforms are needed to maximise avoidable food waste prevention, and the surplus avoidable food redistribution in the food supply chain for social benefit.

在英国，每年约有600万吨的可食用食品被浪费掉（农场后的大门）。可食用的浪费食物的这一部分被称为可避免的食物浪费。在循环经济中，粮食是一种宝贵的资源，必须在粮食供应链的各个阶段加以捕获，并在可能的情况下重新分配用于消费。这可以防止可避免的食物浪费的产生，以及防止食物的多维价值消散，这些价值跨越环境，经济，社会，技术和政治/组织影响。尽管全球文献充分证明了剩余食物重新分配的重要性和好处，但仍然存在阻碍完美食用食物浪费的障碍。这项研究着眼于食品供应链的主要阶段，并评估了机会，与向英国经济重新分配剩余食物相关的挑战和权衡取舍。它突出显示了食品系统中可以进行干预的点，以提高食品的流通性和可持续性潜力。利益相关者之间的关系，监管和社会经济方面的影响及其对减少可避免的食物浪费的影响都进行了讨论。这项工作的主要成果是对食品供应链中挑战和权衡发生在何处以及需要如何进行政策和社会经济改革以最大程度地避免可避免的食物浪费以及食物中多余的可避免食物重新分配的图解说明。供应链带来的社会效益。利益相关者之间的关系，监管和社会经济方面的影响及其对减少可避免的食物浪费的影响都进行了讨论。这项工作的主要成果是对食品供应链中挑战和权衡发生在何处以及需要如何进行政策和社会经济改革以最大程度地避免可避免的食物浪费以及食物中多余的可避免食物重新分配的图解说明。供应链带来的社会效益。利益相关者之间的关系，监管和社会经济方面的影响及其对减少可避免的食物浪费的影响都进行了讨论。这项工作的主要成果是对食品供应链中挑战和权衡发生在何处以及需要如何进行政策和社会经济改革以最大程度地避免可避免的食物浪费以及食物中多余的可避免食物重新分配的图解说明。供应链带来的社会效益。