Food loss and waste in the context of the circular economy: a systematic review

About 30% of food produced globally is lost or wasted along the food supply chain. In this sense, the objective of this research is to identify and systematize scientific publications relating food losses and wastes with solutions based on the concept of circular economy. Through inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 articles were identified, until April 2020, which were analysed using the StArt tool. The papers were analysed based on the five categories selected in this study: definitions of food losses and wastes, quantification of food losses and wastes, solutions for food losses and wastes, examples of circular economy, relationship between food losses and wastes circular economy and food. The publications on the theme are from 2011, being mostly reviews until 2018 and case studies in the last two years. Developed countries, mainly European, have more publications. It is worth mentioning that there is no specific concept for food losses and wastes, which makes it difficult to quantify. The concept of circular economy is more related in terms of reduction, reuse and recycling than the idea of a systematic change in the food supply chain. The need for future studies that associate food losses and wastes with the circular economy remains a global challenge, especially for developing countries. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

About 30% of food produced globally is lost or wasted along the food supply chain. The research aims to systematize scientific publications relating food losses and wastes with solutions based on the concept of circular economy. Future studies need to associate food losses and wastes with the circular economy, which remains a global challenge.