Comparing different food waste management options: a review of LCA studies

The food waste paradox is in the centre of attention of the scientific community, institutions, and citizens. Having a sustainable management of the food wasted can lead to major benefits for economy, society, and environment. The paper focuses on various studies that used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare different food waste management methods with the aims to understand the state of the art and the effectiveness of food waste management in the framework of the European directives and regulations and to find out how research can support overcoming the current gaps. The review has concentrated on the choices of functional unit and system boundaries and on the results of the LCA studies. Generally, the food waste hierarchy is respected and landfilling overall is always the worst option. Also, the importance of the context was underlined. Some gaps were identified: a low attention to the prevention and re-use phase of the waste hierarchy – which should be instead the most preferred - and the lack of the assessment of the impacts of transportation, type of food and infrastructures. The results of this study can be useful for policymakers, to divert policies toward more sustainable and suitable management options, but also for researchers to compare innovative solutions to the ones already in use.