What Nudge Techniques Work for Food Waste Behaviour Change at the Consumer Level? A Systematic Review

In European countries over 40% of food loss and waste occurs at the retail and consumer stages; this situation cannot be sustained and remediation is urgently needed; opportunities for change must be created. Nudge techniques have been shown to be effective in changing behaviour in areas related to food consumption (e.g., healthy diet), but the effectiveness of interventions using nudge techniques to change food waste behaviours remains unclear, despite a growing body of research. The aim of this review is to elucidate means to change household food waste behaviour using nudge approaches and identify priority needs for further research. Four databases, grey literature and reference lists were searched systematically to identify relevant research on nudges to change food waste behaviours. This search identified sixteen peer-reviewed research articles and two grey literature reports that were critically appraised using a critical appraisal checklist framework for descriptive/case series. Four studies deemed reliable show interventions using nudges of social norms, reminders or social norms with disclosure were effective in changing food waste behaviours at the household level, while disclosure alone, i.e., revealing environmental costs of food waste, was not. This review, unique in the application of a critical appraisal, suggests there is reliable information on the effectiveness of nudge for food waste recycling interventions when incorporating nudges of social norms, reminders or disclosure alongside use of social norms. If food waste recycling behaviour is considered an upstream measure to raise consumers' consciousness on the amount of food waste they produce, this may have a positive impact on food waste reduction and therefore has important policy implications for food waste behaviour change at the household level.

Automated summary

In European countries, over 40% of food loss and waste occurs at the retail and consumer stages, highlighting the urgent need for remediation. Nudge techniques, including social norms, reminders, and disclosure, have shown effectiveness in changing food waste behaviors at the household level. Prioritizing these nudge approaches in interventions could lead to positive impacts on reducing food waste and have important policy implications.