Identification of the Risks Generated in the Environment by Food Waste

Today, it is estimated that about 88 million tonnes of food waste or 173 kilograms per capita are generated annually in the European Union. In farms, as well as in the processing and production industry, in shops, restaurants and households, food is lost and wasted along the entire food chain. Households are in the first place in the generation of food waste. Lost or wasted food contribute to climate change, with a global carbon footprint of about 8% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste is in fact a loss of resources, such as land, energy, water and others throughout the life cycle of products. For every kilogram of food produced, 4.5 kg of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. Food waste has not only high social, economic and environmental costs, but also entails ethical consequences. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 793 million people in the world are malnourished. Taking into account all these aspects, the central objective of this manuscript is to identify the risks generated in the environment by food waste in order to perform an analysis of food waste management options, which will then be evaluated in terms of: economic, ecological, social and technological by applying calculation tools.