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
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
Bretter C
(2022)
Don't put all your eggs in one basket: Testing an integrative model of household food waste
in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Bretter C
(2023)
It is just wrong: Moral foundations and food waste
in Journal of Environmental Psychology
Bretter C
(2023)
Food waste interventions: Experimental evidence of the effectiveness of environmental messages
in Journal of Cleaner Production
Bretter C
(2022)
Corrigendum to <'Don't put all your eggs in one basket: testing an integrative model of household food waste'>
in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Vittuari M
(2023)
How to reduce consumer food waste at household level: A literature review on drivers and levers for behavioural change
in Sustainable Production and Consumption
| Description | The project started in November 2020 and is ending in July 2022, therefore, most of the research activities were undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this project, we aimed (1) to investigate how the acute disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic affected food waste behaviour in UK households, (2) to identify the important factors affecting food waste and design and implement interventions based on these factors, and (3) use our partnerships with WRAP and Zero Waste Scotland to disseminate the outcomes of the project across the UK. The key achievements regarding the first two aims of the project are provided below. Our work regarding Aim 3 is still ongoing, therefore, this will be reported on completion of the project in July 2022. The key factors influencing household food waste are complex and intertwined including food management behaviours (e.g., planning, 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, whereas 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 seems to have been only temporary. As the UK went out of the lock-downs, people seem to have already started returning back 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 an intervention by focusing on these factors. Our results suggest that --priming responsibility goals for those who give more importance to this goal (i.e., high responsibility group) help 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 negative environmental impacts of wasting food. For example, high altruists reported higher meal planning intentions in response to the message with emphasis on environment. However, more effort is needed for low altruists because they need to see a personal benefit to engage in behaviours that reduce food waste. |
| Exploitation Route | We envisage our research outcomes being taken forward by both practitioners and academics interested in and working on reducing consumer 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 |
| 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 15 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. They're practitioner and academic experts on food waste from EU countries and the UK. |
| Impact | We have prepared a literature review on the drivers for consumer food waste and levers for behavioural change.This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration of practitioner and academic experts working on food waste. These include 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 are supervising two Leeds University Business School MSc students regarding their dissertation projects on household food-waste. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The contribution of WRAP to these two dissertation projects is providing the data that they collected from UK households in 2019 and 2020. |
| Impact | This is a mltidisciplinary collaboration. The disciplines involved are business analytics and consumer behaviour. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| 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 | Blogpost on the project and grant |
| 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 | 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 Leeds University Business School MSc students |
| 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 | 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 |