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Food delivery waste in Wuhan, China: Patterns, drivers, and implications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105960Get rights and content
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Abstract

With the rapid development of e-commerce and the modern fast-paced life in large Chinese cities, food delivery services have become an important part of daily life and inevitably result in significant amount of food delivery waste (FDW) and environmental impacts. However, the scales, patterns, and impacts of FDW remain hitherto poorly understood. This study, based on direct weighing method (810 samples) and questionnaire survey (889 samples), aims to address such gaps with a case study for Wuhan, a typical first-tier city in central China. Our results showed that Wuhan's total FDW added up to 177.6 (± 52.9) kilotons in 2019, in which white-collar workers contribute the most (58%) and packaging waste takes up a significant share (32%). When packaging waste is excluded, the amount of FDW varied significantly among consumer groups, i.e., 154 ± 69, 187 ± 97, and 249 ± 124 g/cap/order for urban residents, college students, and white-collar workers, respectively, indicating the predominant role of consumer characteristics on FDW generation. Wuhan's total FDW related carbon emissions were approximately 168.3 kilotons CO2e; and this can be reduced by 25% if waste-to-energy technology can be implemented as planned and by 55% if the avoidable part of FDW can be prevented. Raising awareness and encouraging thriftiness (e.g., via education and public campaigns), nudging and pricing to minimize irrational food purchase, and reducing unnecessary packing and use of disposal dishware, are suggested as important FDW reduction strategies.

Keywords

Food delivery
Consumer food waste
Food waste reduction
Driving factors
Greenhouse gas emissions

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