A recent Swedish study says
food wastage can be reduced by improving logistics. The the logistics system, through which
food is transported from one place to another, may be one way to reduce food
wastage.
Food waste
refers to disposal of food even though it is fit for human consumption. Its
affects the environment by increasing resource usage and the consumption of
energy.
In Australia, people waste 4 million tonnes
of food each year with a cost of $8 billion. In the European Union about 88
million tonnes of food is discarded and the costs associated with food wastage
are estimated at 143 billion Euros. Every year, nearly a quarter of a million
tonnes of food is wasted in Sweden, so Swedish researcher, Kristina Liljestrand,
decided to do something about it.
Through Liljestrand’s research, she worked
out a way for the logistic and transport industry to reduce their environmental
impact in terms of food wastage and carbon emissions from transport.
Her research is unique as there are no
previous studies to suggest improvement in logistic actions to combat waste
problems. Liljestrand delivers nine improvement actions in her dissertation
through an extensive study of Swedish producers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Her study addresses the transport systems
impact on climate and food waste and places emphasis on all actors involved in
the food supply chain (FSC). Liljestrand concludes that collaboration is
necessary to establish improvement actions as there are several stages in the
supply chain and it’s hard for just one company to work alone to reduce the
impact.
The research focuses on two aspects of the
FSC that can affect the environmental impact of an established logistics system
and can hinder the establishment of improvement actions.
These are: 1) FSC characteristics such as
shelf life, temperature regime and specific food characteristics which help
create conditions for a logistics system; and 2) performance variables such as
requirements around lead times and flexibility which can conflict with
individuals or companies within the FSC to reduce environmental impact.
Liljestrand’s thesis is a result of five
separate studies and the compilation of empirical data collection
from case studies and analysis which delivers nine characteristics
regarding supply chain flow and products.
Two important frameworks were developed to
explain how all players in the FSC can reduce transport’s impact on climate:
one framework was for evaluating the shipments potential to lower the impact of
transport on climate; and another framework was developed to aid in selecting
improvement actions that can mitigate that impact.
Because there are many factors involved in
transporting food, the logistics system can be complex and huge. The two
frameworks provide a starting point and a tool for companies to be able to see
where and how they can reduce food waste and associated environmental impact
while decreasing carbon emissions.
Liljestrand also incorporated an economic
factor in her study and says that by making changes in load factor and inter-modal
transport, people can reduce the environmental impact and thus reduce costs.
While individuals can helpt to reduce food
wastage, companies can also design logistic systems that can do the same.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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