Capitalising on COVID-19 as a Trigger for Positive Change in Food Waste Behaviour

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leeds
Department Name: Leeds University Business School (LUBS)

Abstract

Household food waste is an acknowledged societal problem, contributing to greenhouse gas production, food insecurity, and food price inflation. In the UK, household food waste makes up 70% of all post-farm-gate food waste and was recognized by the UK Government's Michael Gove: "Nobody wants to see good food go to waste. It harms our environment, it's bad for business - and it's morally indefensible.". Although there have been studies in the past to reduce food waste, the problem has largely remained intractable until the COVID-19 lockdown.

The COVID-19 lockdown has been a big contextual change in people's daily lives. However, it has resulted in positive changes in food waste-related behaviours as indicated in the reports of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and UK media. For example, UK consumers reported an increased awareness and willingness to minimise household food waste leading to a 34% reduction in food waste across 4 key products (bread, milk, potatoes, and chicken) compared to the average across 2018-2019. However, these changes may not last long with the ease of lockdown.

Our research aims to harness the positive changes in food waste behaviour and investigate opportunities to sustain this change over the long term. Therefore, our project will (1) identify the factors that have affected food waste behaviours under lockdown, (2) develop, implement and evaluate interventions to support positive behaviour change, and (3) use our partnerships with WRAP and Zero Waste Scotland to disseminate the outcomes across the UK.

The outcomes of this research will have positive social and economic impacts on UK food insecurity, consumers' cost savings, and food price inflation, as well as environmental impact on the amount of resources and inputs required and greenhouse gas generated, by not producing food that becomes waste

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description The project was undertaken between November 2020 and July 2022. Therefore, most of the research activities were undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this project, we aimed to:
--Investigate how the acute disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic affected food waste behaviour in UK households.
--Identify the important factors affecting food waste and design and implement interventions based on these factors.
--Use our partnerships with WRAP and Zero Waste Scotland to disseminate the project outcomes.

The key achievements regarding the aims of the project are the following:
--The key factors influencing household food waste are complex and intertwined, including food management behaviours (e.g., planning and saving leftovers), intentions, attitudes, individual values, and personal goals. Among these factors, we found that altruism values and food-related responsibility goals are important predictors of food waste. Altruism values denote giving importance to equality, social justice, a world at peace, and being helpful. In contrast, responsibility-related goals include being a good citizen and neighbour, protecting the environment, and ensuring social justice by not buying more than needed.

--Our consumer interviews and nationally representative survey results showed positive changes in food management behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants reported improvement in making shopping lists, shopping less frequently, planning their meals and cooking at home from scratch more often. However, the change was only temporary. As the UK went out of the lockdowns, people started returning to their normal behaviours. This was particularly true for those giving less importance to responsibility-related goals (i.e., low responsibility group).

--As altruism and responsibility emerged as two important drivers of household food waste, we designed and tested an intervention by focusing on these factors. The results suggest that
------priming responsibility goals for those who give more importance to this goal (i.e., high responsibility group) helps them engage in food management behaviours more
------people who give more importance to altruism (i.e., high altruists) are more likely to positively respond to priming messages on reducing food waste, particularly when the message highlights the negative environmental impacts of wasting food. For example, high altruists reported higher meal planning intentions in response to the message emphasising the environment. However, more effort is needed for low altruists because they need to see a personal benefit in engaging in behaviours that reduce food waste.

--The project team disseminated the key insights from this project to various stakeholders through the interactive workshop held on the 27th of April. This included several people from various roles at WRAP, Zero Waste Scotland, civil servants from Welsh, Scottish and English Government (Defra), and representatives from retailers, food manufacturers and NGOs working on food-waste prevention. In addition to dissemination, this workshop included discussion time for participants to explore what the results meant for their organisation. The recordings of the presentations from the workshop were disseminated not only to workshop participants but also made available to all WRAP staff.

--As the final study, we examined (a) the perceived morality of food waste as a driver for food waste behaviour and (b) whether interventions that associated food waste with either the moral foundation of harm or disgust can increase both intentions to reduce food waste and to engage more in future meal planning.
The results showed that the extent to which study participants believed food waste was morally wrong was negatively associated with their self-reported food waste. Moreover, for those who adhered to the care/harm foundation, the harm intervention led them to believe more strongly that food waste is morally wrong. These stronger moral judgements, in turn, were positively associated with participants' intention to reduce food waste and with their intention to plan meals. However, we found that for those who endorsed the purity/disgust foundation, the disgust manipulation elicited higher intentions to reduce food waste and to plan meals (compared to the harm manipulation).
Exploitation Route The outcomes of this project might be taken forward by both practitioners and academics working on reducing household food waste. The stakeholder workshop that we organised on 27th April 2022 to disseminate our key findings, included stakeholders from major UK retailers, food waste organisations, policy makers, government, and academics. We asked them how they can use our findings in their area of work. The suggestions are summarised below:
--Food waste and government organisations can work with community groups to spread the message out to the wider audience. These community groups are very much committed and great ambassadors but have difficulty in their communications with the wider community. The results of the project should guide them how to communicate the message
--Academics and food waste organisations can design behaviour change interventions to understand how multiple messaging (as in our project) works on consumers
--Retailers can help grocery shoppers to improve their meal planning practices
--Retailers can investigate whether there are differences between low and high altruist customers in terms of shopping practices
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Communities and Social Services/Policy

Environment

Government

Democracy and Justice

Other

URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/dir-record/research-projects/1782/capitalising-on-covid-19-as-a-trigger-for-positive-change-in-food-waste-behaviour
 
Description The behavioural interventions applied in this project was evaluated by the European Consumer Food Waste Forum experts, including PI Kaptan and they were selected to be included in their technical report listed below. The report contributes to the work of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste and that of other players to help reduce consumer food waste. Swannell, R., Bruns, H., Brüggemann, N., Candeal, T., Casonato, C., Diercxsens, C., Garcia Herrero, L., Gil Roig, J.M., Haglund, Y., Van Herpen, E., Kaptan, G., Kasza, G., et al. Evaluation of consumer food waste prevention interventions, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice
Impact Types Societal

Policy & public services

 
Description Being cited in the European Food Waste Forum Literature Review
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Citation in systematic reviews
 
Description PI Kaptan was an expert member of the European Consumer Food Waste Forum
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
URL https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/projects-activities/european-consumer-food-waste-forum_en#comp...
 
Description Research England Policy Support Fund
Amount £62,344 (GBP)
Organisation University of Leeds 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2022 
End 07/2023
 
Title Determinants of Household Food Waste in the UK 
Description This dataset contains data collected from a two-wave survey in the UK. Apart from demographical information, it contains the anonymised responses to various psychological constructs such as values or goals. It also contains a self-reported estimate of individual food waste (one for wave 1 and one for wave 2) and information on participants' food management behaviours. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This dataset will form the basis of one publication and will support further publications from this project. 
URL https://archive.researchdata.leeds.ac.uk/906/
 
Description European Consumer Food Waste Forum 
Organisation European Commission
Department Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Country European Union (EU) 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution With my expertise in the area of consumer food waste, I contributed to a literature review regarding the drivers for consumer food waste and levers for behavioural change, as well as defining the scope of the study and framework for evaluation of consumer food waste interventions
Collaborator Contribution My 14 collaborators in the European Consumer Food Waste Forum contributed to a literature review regarding the drivers for consumer food waste and levers for behavioural change, as well as defining the scope of the study and framework for evaluation of consumer food waste interventions. The collaborators were from academia, NGOs and public institutions alike. They were involved in food waste prevention campaigns and behaviour change interventions. Some of them are also involved in the work of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.
Impact We published a literature review on the drivers for consumer food waste and levers for behavioural change. In addition, we identified and developed multi-dimensional tools to support the implementation of effective food waste prevention interventions. Concerning this work, we prepared two technical reports that were published by the Publications Office of the European Union in 2023. This was a multi-disciplinary collaboration including the disciplines of consumer behaviour, agricultural economics, psychology, circular economy, ecology, and urban food and farming.
Start Year 2021
 
Description MSc dissertation supervision in partnership with WRAP 
Organisation Waste and Resources Action Programme
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution PI Kaptan and Co-I Quested supervised one Leeds University Business School MSc student (Ms Chuyao Kuang) regarding their dissertation project on How socio-demographics and food waste prevention behaviours associate with household food waste .
Collaborator Contribution The contribution of WRAP to the dissertation project was providing food waste data that they had previously collected from UK households in 2019 and 2020.
Impact This is a multidisciplinary collaboration. The disciplines involved are business analytics and consumer behaviour. Outcomes: --An invited talk given by PI Kaptan at the Love Food Hate Waste International Network Meeting that were attended by fodd waste experts from WRAP, overseas food waste agencies, and, food manufacturers. (virtual meeting), WRAP (October 2023) --The MSc Student was awarded a fully-funded PhD scholarship on reducing household food waste by the Leeds University Business School (Oct 2023-to date). Dissertation title: The effect of mobile applications on household food waste prevention behaviours and food waste reduction PhD Main Supervisor: PI Kaptan
Start Year 2022
 
Description Blogpost by PI Kaptan on food waste 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact PI Kaptan published a blogpost to introduce the grant and project titled as Capitalising on COVID-19 as a Trigger for Positive Change in Food Waste Behaviour. The blogpost provided information about the aim of the project, the funder, team, and expected impact. It has been shared in social media channels of Leeds University Business School and received many likes and positive feedback. It has also been reshared in social media, as well as having been covered in media. Following these, PI Kaptan was invited to several events (see other engagement activities listed) and seminars to talk about the project and grant.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-cdr/dir-record/research-blog/1864/capitalising-on-covid-19-as-...
 
Description Blogpost on partnering and working with business practitioners and government agencies on grant applications and projects 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact PI Kaptan and Co-I Unsworth wrote together a blogpost on Finding common ground between academics, business practitioners, and government agencies. The blogpost revealed many advantages to academics working with external partners, such as those in industry and government agencies. PI Kaptan and Co-I Unsworth used this ESRC project as the example to refer in their blogpost due to having Co-I Quested from WRAP, and partnering with WRAP and ZEro Waste Scotland (ZWS) for the project. The blogpost provided information about their collaboration and partnership with WRAP and ZWS when working on the grant application and on the project after granted. The blogpost has been shared in social media channels of Leeds Business School and received likes and positive feedback.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-blog/1869/finding-common-ground-between-academics-b...
 
Description Conference Presentation- International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Responsibility 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Postdoc Bretter gave a 20-minute online presentation at the International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Responsibility in January 2022 about the key findings of the project. The key audience comprised practitioners and academics in the field of sustainability. Q&A sessions were held via an online platform. The presentation was well received by the audience as evidenced with questions and positive feedback
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://onsustainability.com/news/2022-conference-on-sustainability-announced
 
Description Invited lecture to MSc students on food waste 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact In March 2022, PI Kaptan gave a lecture to Leeds University Business School MSc students who were preparing projects for their Company Marketing Projects module. PI Kaptan's presentation was focused on drivers of food waste and resulting behaviour change.The audience consisted of postgraduate students studying International Marketing Management. The participants asked many questions to PI Kaptan about the ESRC project, WRAP's work, and food waste policies in the UK. Some of them emailed PI Kaptan later to ask further questions and get information.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sally-chan-0199441b_foodwasteactionweek-foodwaste-ghgemissions-activi...
 
Description Invited speaker and discussant at Food Matters Live 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 30th June 2021, PI Kaptan presented as an invited-speaker in the Food Matters Live 2021 event in the session on creating social movement for sustainable food choices. Her talk was on creating social movement and latest thinking in behaviour change. The other speakers in the session were Jamie Crummie (the Co-founder of Too Good To Go), Dr Rick Schifferstein (Assoc. Prof of Food Design in Delft Univ of Technology), and Ylva Haglund (Campaigns Manager at Zero Waste Scotland). The session was chaired by Tessa Tricks from HUBBUB. PI Kaptan's presentation was focused on the aims and expected impact of this ESRC project and how these aims is being achieved, as well as citizen science and how this can be applied to food waste research.The audience consisted of academics and practitioners from the UK and abroad who were interested in behaviour change in relation to making sustainable food choices. Particularly the panel discussion was very rewarding in terms of interesting questions asked by the audience, and answers and discussions by the panel members. Following this event, Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) contacts informed PI Kaptan about European Commission's European Food Waste Forum and suggested her to submit an application for their advert looking for food waste experts across Europe. PI Kaptan sent an application and was selected to the project. She and Ylva Haglund from ZWS are currently working together in this project of the European Commission.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited speaker at University of Leeds Be Curious 2021 Lates Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On 13th July 2021, PI Kaptan showcased her food waste-related research as an invited-speaker at the University of Leeds Be Curious 2021 Lates Event. Be Curious is the University's annual research open event, which aims to showcase how research at Leeds is making a world of difference to people's lives. The speakers are selected and invited through a formal application process. PI Kaptan was a speaker in the session on imagining sustainable features. Her talk was focused on reducing food waste, as well as presenting this ESRC project. The audience were individuals from the UK and abroad who were interested in research at Leeds that make a difference in the area of sustainability. PI Kaptan answered many questions of the audience that are mostly on how to reduce food waste at households.Some of them indicated that they were not aware of these practices but will change behaviour after having been informed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited talk and panel discussant at Chartered Institute of Waste Management's (CIWM) webinar 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 25th March 2021, PI Kaptan was an invited speaker and discussant in Chartered Institute of Waste Management's (CIWM) webinar on how local authorities can help residents reduce food waste. The audience were mostly practitioners from UK local authorities and CIWM members and fellows. Dr Kaptan presented this ESRC project and shared her views on how academics and local authorities can collaborate to help residents reduce food waste. Other speakers included food waste professionals from local councils and Tessa Tricks from a leading environmental organisation Hubbub. The talks sparked interesting questions that were discussed in the panel discussion. Following this event, Tessa Tricks invited PI Kaptan to Food Matters Live 2021 for the session she will chairing. The experts from the councils were very much interested in PI Kaptan's talk and informed her that they would be very much willing to be involved in future research with PI Kaptan.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited talk by Co-I Russell 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Co-I Russell gave an invited online talk on the outcomes of the project (i.e.Capitalising on COVID-19 as a Trigger for Positive Change in Food Waste Behaviour,) at the Kedge Business School Webinar Series (France and UK).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Invited talk by Co-I Russell 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Co-I Russell gave an invited talk (in person) on the outcomes of the project (i.e., Capitalising on COVID-19 as a Trigger for Positive Change in Food Waste Behaviour) at the School of Psychology Seminar Series that was held at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, (Norway)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Invited talk by Co-I Russell 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact An invited to talk to international academics on the outcomes of the project: Capitalising on COVID-19 as a Trigger for Positive Change in Food Waste Behaviour
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Invited talk by PI Kaptan - food waste 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact PI Kaptan made an invited research visit to the Consumer Behaviour Group of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Zurich, Switzerland) and gave an invited talk on Food waste behaviour before, during, and after Covid-19 lockdowns: Implications for future research. The talk took place at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology. The primary audience was the university academics.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Keynote talk by PI Kaptan on food waste 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact This conference focused on latest developments and next steps for food waste, looking at policy, regulation and industry practice.
Stakeholders and policymakers discussed implications of WRAP's refreshed Food Waste Reduction Roadmap aimed at accelerating the drive to meet 2030 targets.
Delegates assessed the future for food waste reporting, including potential changes to procedure, the range of businesses and materials affected, and issues of cost, impact and enforcement, as Defra reviews responses to their 2022 consultation.
They also considered approaches for improving transparency and accountability, how reporting could work effectively across different sectors, and what a possible legislative and regulatory approach could look like if mandatory reporting were put in place.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/publication/Food-Waste-2023
 
Description Leeds University Business School Sustainability Research seminar series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Gulbanu Kaptan presented as an invited-speaker in Leeds University Business School Sustainability Research seminar series. Her presentation was on food waste behaviour before and after Covid-19 in the UK and implications of these for Courtauld Commitment 2025. The presentation also focused on the aims and expected impact of this ESRC project and how these will be achieved. The audience consisted of academic and professional staff and students of the University of Leeds, and practitioners and academics from other universities and organisations. The talk was very well received by the audience as evidenced with many questions and positive feedback.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/events/event/637/lunch-bag-seminar-sustainability-research-at-l...
 
Description Presentation at WRAP Internal Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 10th January 2022, Co-I Quested gave a presentation to a WRAP audience on this ESRC project. This fed into a wider discussion about WRAP's strategy on tackling household food waste for the next 15 months.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Stakeholder workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The project team organised a stakeholder workshop to disseminate the findings of the project. The workshop took place on 27th April 2022 over Microsoft Teams. The attendees were representatives from Courtauld 2025 signatories and government agencies, as well as academics working on sustainability and food systems. The project team presented the results in a 45-min slot followed by questions and answers. This was followed by break-out group activities for small groups of attendees to discuss how they can use the project findings and what future research would be useful to them. The presentation and break-out group discussions resulted in insightful comments and feedback from the attendees. Some of these attendees contacted the project team after the workshop to get further information and be in touch regarding the updates about the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/267/capitalising_on_covid-19_as_a_trigger_for_positi...
 
Description Workshop with WRAP researchers and practitioners 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 14th September 2021, PI Kaptan, Co-I's Quested, Unsworth and Russell, and Postdoc Bretter presented the findings of the project to WRAP researchers and practitioners. Their feedback and suggestions were asked about how the findings should inform the behaviour change intervention that the project team will design. The findings were very well received by WRAP colleagues. There was a rewarding discussion and decision about the design of the intervention, particularly which consumer groups should be targeted in interventions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021