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Research article2025Peer reviewedOpen access

Unveiling the hidden patterns of household food waste

Sjölund, A.; Malefors, C.; von, Brömssen, C.; Svensson, E.; Brancoli, P.; Syed, S.; Rousta, K.; Eriksson, M.

Abstract

Among the methods commonly used for quantifying food waste in households, there are limitations that affect the reliability of quantification results. To address these, this study used an automated quantification tool to objectively and with high precision quantify food waste in 28 Swedish households for an extended period, reaching a total of 3945 quantification days. The results showed that the average daily waste amounted to 0.159 kg per person. Recorded food waste displayed a large variation between days, weeks and months, suggesting that long-term quantification is necessary for precision. As the results indicated, between 115 and 569 quantification days is necessary to provide an average estimate with a ± 10 % precision. This study presents empirical evidence demonstrating the feasibility and opportunities of automated food waste quantification, emphasizing the importance of extended measurement periods, high-frequency data collection, and minimal user intervention on designing effective waste tracking systems.

Keywords

Automated quantification tool; Household food waste; Long-term monitoring; Waste measurement technology

Published in

Current Research in Environmental Sustainability
2025, volume: 9, article number: 100292

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Food Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2025.100292

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141586