Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation.
Lead Research Organisation:
City, University of London
Department Name: School of Health Sciences
Abstract
THE PROBLEM
Plastic packaging waste is a major issue that has recently entered public consciousness, with the British government committing to a 25-year plan that would phase out disposable packaging by 2042. Around 41% of plastic packaging is used for food, with the UK generating 1 million tonnes per year of packaging waste. Food packaging has had a 1844% increase in recycling since 2007, yet still only one third of food packaging is currently recycled [3]. Currently many consumers are boycotting plastic packaging. However, this is leading to a rise in food waste (and foodborne illness risk) due to decreased shelf life. Up to a third of the resources used to produce food could be saved by eliminating food waste [1]. In the UK, approximately 10 million tonnes of food are wasted every year, with the average family (i.e. a household containing children) spending £700 a year on food that is wasted. 31% of avoidable household food waste (1.3 million tonnes), is caused by a mismatch of packaging, pack, and portion size, and household food habits [2]. Plastic pollution and food waste can be reduced through product re-design and other household interventions. However, there is little evidence to determine the best solutions to reduce plastic pollution and food waste. The food industry and consumers have a variety of possible solutions, but no way of knowing the impacts and unintended consequences (without costly, time consuming trials and measurement). This is a major barrier to empowering the food system to enable the rapid reduction of plastic waste.
THE VISION
This project reduces plastic pollution (and food waste) by providing a decision support tool to trigger action in the food industry and by consumers. Evidence concerning plastic and food waste reduction (and trade-offs with cost, and environmental impacts) will be generated by updating the Household Simulation Model (HHSM).
The HHSM was piloted by the University of Sheffield and WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) to model the impacts of food product innovation quickly, to enable manufacturers to select the best innovations and interventions, and to prioritise their development and deployment. This project will incorporate into the current HHSM, data on 1) plastic packaging options and composition (from Valpak/WRAP), 2) household behavioural insights around packaging (single and reuse options) and food (provided by UoS/WRAP), with specific fresh produce data (from Greenwich) 3) plastic in the supply chain and environmental impacts (via SCEnATi- a big data analytics tool of the food supply chain processes (provided by Sheffield).
The updated HHSM will enable the quantification of plastic and food waste reduction, and the environmental and monetary trade-offs of various solutions. This will be done by developing an optimization engine and integrating it with the updated HHSM which will further the simulation optimization methodology with the findings from applying developed meta-heuristic algorithms to this problem. Possible solutions include offering consumers different pack sizes, or changing packaging type/shape/reusability/durability.
The most successful solutions will be translated into consumer and industry guidance focusing on the top 30 foods linked to the highest waste and tradeoff potential. This will enable rapid product and food system redesign. This guidance will be open access, and deployed through WRAP and global industry networks, and open access web tools.
WRAP is coordinating the voluntary agreements UK Plastics Pact and the Courtauld Commitment 2025 (focused on food waste and carbon reduction). This allows rapid scaling of the HHSM outputs throughout the UK.
References: [1] Institution of Mechanical Engineers, "Global food - Waste not, want not" London, 2013
[2] Quested, T. E., et al. "Spaghetti soup: The complex world of food waste behaviours." RCR 79 (2013): 43-51.
[3] Recoup 2018, UK Household Plastics Collection
Plastic packaging waste is a major issue that has recently entered public consciousness, with the British government committing to a 25-year plan that would phase out disposable packaging by 2042. Around 41% of plastic packaging is used for food, with the UK generating 1 million tonnes per year of packaging waste. Food packaging has had a 1844% increase in recycling since 2007, yet still only one third of food packaging is currently recycled [3]. Currently many consumers are boycotting plastic packaging. However, this is leading to a rise in food waste (and foodborne illness risk) due to decreased shelf life. Up to a third of the resources used to produce food could be saved by eliminating food waste [1]. In the UK, approximately 10 million tonnes of food are wasted every year, with the average family (i.e. a household containing children) spending £700 a year on food that is wasted. 31% of avoidable household food waste (1.3 million tonnes), is caused by a mismatch of packaging, pack, and portion size, and household food habits [2]. Plastic pollution and food waste can be reduced through product re-design and other household interventions. However, there is little evidence to determine the best solutions to reduce plastic pollution and food waste. The food industry and consumers have a variety of possible solutions, but no way of knowing the impacts and unintended consequences (without costly, time consuming trials and measurement). This is a major barrier to empowering the food system to enable the rapid reduction of plastic waste.
THE VISION
This project reduces plastic pollution (and food waste) by providing a decision support tool to trigger action in the food industry and by consumers. Evidence concerning plastic and food waste reduction (and trade-offs with cost, and environmental impacts) will be generated by updating the Household Simulation Model (HHSM).
The HHSM was piloted by the University of Sheffield and WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) to model the impacts of food product innovation quickly, to enable manufacturers to select the best innovations and interventions, and to prioritise their development and deployment. This project will incorporate into the current HHSM, data on 1) plastic packaging options and composition (from Valpak/WRAP), 2) household behavioural insights around packaging (single and reuse options) and food (provided by UoS/WRAP), with specific fresh produce data (from Greenwich) 3) plastic in the supply chain and environmental impacts (via SCEnATi- a big data analytics tool of the food supply chain processes (provided by Sheffield).
The updated HHSM will enable the quantification of plastic and food waste reduction, and the environmental and monetary trade-offs of various solutions. This will be done by developing an optimization engine and integrating it with the updated HHSM which will further the simulation optimization methodology with the findings from applying developed meta-heuristic algorithms to this problem. Possible solutions include offering consumers different pack sizes, or changing packaging type/shape/reusability/durability.
The most successful solutions will be translated into consumer and industry guidance focusing on the top 30 foods linked to the highest waste and tradeoff potential. This will enable rapid product and food system redesign. This guidance will be open access, and deployed through WRAP and global industry networks, and open access web tools.
WRAP is coordinating the voluntary agreements UK Plastics Pact and the Courtauld Commitment 2025 (focused on food waste and carbon reduction). This allows rapid scaling of the HHSM outputs throughout the UK.
References: [1] Institution of Mechanical Engineers, "Global food - Waste not, want not" London, 2013
[2] Quested, T. E., et al. "Spaghetti soup: The complex world of food waste behaviours." RCR 79 (2013): 43-51.
[3] Recoup 2018, UK Household Plastics Collection
Publications
Guo R
(2024)
Assessing the environmental sustainability of consumer-centric poultry chain in the UK through life cycle approaches and the household simulation model
in Science of The Total Environment
Martin Torrejon, V.
(2023)
Trade-offs between plastic packaging and food waste
Pickering J
(2023)
Meal mutability: Understanding how variations in meal concepts and recipe flexibility relate to food provisioning
in International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science
Pickering J
(2023)
Household meal planning as anticipatory practice: The role of anticipation in managing domestic food consumption and waste
in Geoforum
Pickering J
(2023)
Questioning the disposability of plastic packaging: Consumer challenges to fresh food packaging market devices and their afterlives
in Journal of Cultural Economy
| Title | Dealing with 'Sweaty Veg': Emerging consumer challenges to plastic packaging for fresh food. |
| Description | Presentation given at the RGS-IBG 2022 Annual conference at Newcastle University on Thursday 1st September 2022. It covers findings from the project 'Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation', funded by the NERC SSPP challenge. The findings are presented in the rough outlines of a paper in preparation as of 6/10/22. The primary research for this project received ethical approval from the University of Sheffield Management school ethical approval board (ref no: 043489). |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/presentation/Dealing_with_Sweaty_Veg_Emerging_consumer_challeng... |
| Title | Freshness, food waste, and plastic packaging: Exploring intersections of contested ontologies and market devices |
| Description | Presentation given at Royal Geographical Society with IBG Annual Conference 2023. Ethical approval ref number: 049768 |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/presentation/Freshness_food_waste_and_plastic_packaging_Explori... |
| Title | Household Simulation Model Webinar |
| Description | A webinar recorded and produced for a household food waste working group (of organisations signatory to the Courtault Commitment), hosted and distributed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme.Ethical approval for the materials in the webinar were gained from Sheffield University Management School. Reference number: 049768. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | None as of 8/9/23. |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/media/Household_Simulation_Model_Webinar/24105705 |
| Title | Plastic Waste and/or Food Waste: Identifying potential trade-offs using the new Household Simulation Model [WRAP 2023] |
| Description | Introductory presentation given to WRAP on 17th May 2023. Ethical approval number: 043489 |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/presentation/Plastic_Waste_and_or_Food_Waste_Identifying_potent... |
| Title | Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation: findings from qualitative research with households [Poster presented at Materials Research Exchange 2022, Business Design Centre London] |
| Description | Poster presented at the Materials Research Exchange conference held at the Business Design Centre, London, on 3-6th October 2022. It covers findings from the project 'Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation', funded by the NERC SSPP challenge. The poster presents a summary of the findings of the qualitative research conducted as part of the project. The primary research for this project received ethical approval from the University of Sheffield Management school ethical approval board (ref no: 043489). |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/poster/Reducing_plastic_packaging_and_food_waste_through_produc... |
| Title | Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation: new household simulation model for chicken fillets [Presented at Materials Research Exchange 2022, Business Design Centre London] |
| Description | Poster presented at the Materials Research Exchange conference held at the Business Design Centre, London, on 3-6th October 2022. It covers findings from the project 'Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation', funded by the NERC SSPP challenge. The poster presents a summary of the findings of the modelling work package. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/poster/Reducing_plastic_packaging_and_food_waste_through_produc... |
| Title | Trade-offs between plastic packaging and food waste. Introducing the Household Simulation Model for Chicken Fillets |
| Description | This presentation, delivered at the EAAE Congress 2023, delves into the relationship between plastic packaging and food waste. It introduces a novel household simulation model for chicken fillets, developed as part of the project titled 'Reducing Plastic Packaging and Food Waste through Production Innovation Simulation', funded by the Natural Environment Research Council on behalf of UKRI.The model employs a discrete event simulation approach to simulate the food journey and its accompanying packaging from supermarkets to households. In doing so, it provides a detailed account of domestic waste generation while considering varied household behaviours.Central to the discussion are the chicken model results, which explore how different pack sizes available in UK supermarkets influence the waste generation of chicken fillets and their packaging within UK households. Furthermore, the presentation uncovers the combined effects of various interventions. These interventions encompass shelf-life extension, food portioning and the increase in freezer usage probability in households for food storage. By simulating these interventions, this presentation sheds light on the trade-offs between food and plastic packaging waste. Lastly, the presentation provides market and consumer recommendations to reduce food and packaging waste, thus moving towards a more sustainable food supply chain. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/presentation/Trade-offs_between_plastic_packaging_and_food_waste_Intro... |
| Title | Using qualitative methods to inform a household plastic packaging and food waste simulation model. |
| Description | Paper presented at Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability (GRIPS) 2022, 17th March 2022. The primary research for this project received ethical approval from the University of Sheffield Management school ethical approval board (ref no: 043489). |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/presentation/Using_qualitative_methods_to_inform_a_household_pl... |
| Title | What can Household Simulation Modelling do for you? Identifying Trade-Offs between Packaging Waste and Food Waste |
| Description | Short presentation given at the GRIPS 2023 conference at Coventry Arena, on 11th May. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| URL | https://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/presentation/What_can_Household_Simulation_Modelling_do_for_you... |
| Description | Our project has produced a new Household Simulation Model (HHSM), which uses Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to estimate the impact of different packaging and household behavior interventions on domestic food and packaging waste generation. This is useful to policymakers and the supply chain, as empirical testing of such interventions at scale is impractical, while our HHSM can provide quantitative evidence of interventions and innovations comparative impacts.. The HHSM model explores various household scenarios and archetypes, including pack sizes, shelf-life extensions, portioning behaviors, and storage-checking options, to provide insights for decision-makers. We have currently run the model on to study the amount of food and packaging waste produced from chicken fillets- common perishable items in British shopping baskets that are generally bought in single-use plastic containers. Chicken fillets waste represents a significant environmental burden that could be minimised by implementing different interventions at the supermarket and consumer levels. Our current results show that packaging innovations that extend shelf life could decrease domestic chicken waste by 59%. Increasing storage checking to 100% could decrease chicken waste by 29%, but it may also increase packaging waste by 4.5%. Furthermore, a negative correlation between chicken and packaging waste emphasises the significance of pack size-related interventions, which should be implemented along with sustainable packaging systems. Overall, the HHSM model provides a powerful tool for evaluating different interventions and comparing their impacts on waste generation. In addition, it offers valuable insights into the effects of various household behaviors and packaging innovations on waste reduction, helping prioritise interventions that minimize waste while minimising trade-offs between food and packaging waste. |
| Exploitation Route | For Chicken fillet research: In future HHSM research, additional parameters impacting domestic waste generation could be incorporated. For example, it could be valuable to include household expenditure, the impact of supermarket promotions on customers' decision-making or the simulation of food waste generation due to overcooking or personal preferences (such as removing connective tissue from chicken fillets before cooking). Additionally, further qualitative research could deepen the understanding of household dynamics and improve the model's accuracy in simulating waste generation. Furthermore, the HHSM could be utilised to study the impact of different waste reduction interventions on various environmental and economic factors and expand its analysis to include the entire food supply chain. By exploring the impacts of the potential interventions with a more holistic approach, the HHSM could provide even more valuable insights into the most effective strategies for reducing food and packaging waste at all levels of the supply chain. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Retail |
| Description | In 2023, a new version of the model was completed for chicken breast fillets. Previous versions of the model have also had policy impacts September 2022, the HHSM team present findings at WRAP, Banbury. This informed decision making/agenda setting. February 2022 WRAP published a pathway to selling more fruit and vegetables loose last week: Label better, less waste: Uncut fruit and vegetables | WRAP. This follows the 'Packaged vs loose' project published in Feb 2022, and heavily relies on the results from the HHSM. "Research published by WRAP in 2022 found that adopting these actions for the five items studied (apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes) alone could: Prevent 100,000 tonnes of household food waste each year. Amount to 10,300 tonnes of plastic packaging removed. This would deliver a combined emissions equivalent to 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year." |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Citation in Label better, less waste: Uncut fruit and vegetables | WRAP. 2022 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | February 2022 WRAP published a pathway to selling more fruit and vegetables loose last week: Label better, less waste: Uncut fruit and vegetables | WRAP. This follows the 'Packaged vs loose' project published in Feb 2022, and heavily relies on the results from the HHSM. https://wrap.org.uk/resources/guide/label-better-less-waste-uncut-fruit-and-vegetables "Research published by WRAP in 2022 found that adopting these actions for the five items studied (apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes) alone could: Prevent 100,000 tonnes of household food waste each year. Amount to 10,300 tonnes of plastic packaging removed. This would deliver a combined emissions equivalent to 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year." |
| URL | https://wrap.org.uk/resources/guide/label-better-less-waste-uncut-fruit-and-vegetables |
| Description | Citation in The pathway to selling more uncut fruit and veg loose WRAP 2023 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | Nobody wants to see good food go to waste or add to the tide of plastic packaging which blights our streets and beautiful countryside. This ambitious new initiative will help to tackle both these issues and builds on recent government efforts in this area. - Rebecca Pow, Defra minister The Pathway has been developed in consultation with industry, to provide highly challenging but feasible targets. It supports the delivery of targets under The UK Plastics Pact, The Courtauld Commitment 2030 and WWF Basket. As a minimum, retailers are encouraged to work towards the following targets: 2023 By end 2023: retailers to sell at least one option of each of the fruit and veg lines listed below loose, if 2 or more lines of that product are stocked. Retailers are encouraged to look at additional items to sell loose wherever possible. 2024 By end 2024: retailers to sell at least one loose option of each of the fruit and veg lines listed if that product is stocked. Retailers are encouraged to look at additional items to sell loose wherever possible. 2025 By end 2025: 30% of uncut fruit and veg sales volume (units/kgs) in store (5% on-line / 10% in stores without weighing capabilities) to be loose. 2030 By end 2030: 50% of uncut fruit and veg sales volume (units/kgs) in store (10% on-line / 40% in stores currently without weighing capabilities) to be loose. In addition to aiming for the targets listed above, a year-on-year increase in the percentage of fresh produce sold loose is expected and will be monitored through annual reporting. |
| URL | https://wrap.org.uk/resources/report/pathway-selling-more-uncut-fruit-and-veg-loose |
| Description | Fairness in the food supply chain. Written Evidence - Dr Christian Reynolds. Submitted 28/7/2023 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/122942/pdf/ |
| Description | Provided Written Evidence to "UK trade policy: food and agriculture" call Dr Christian Reynolds |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/122932/pdf/ |
| Description | WRAP Pesearch exploring the interaction between packaging on fruit and vegetables and household food waste. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Our research has resulted in a model that has been used by WRAP to support policy advice. This new research exploring the interaction between packaging on fruit and vegetables and household food waste. (main webpage is here: https://wrap.org.uk/resources/report/reducing-household-food-waste-and-plastic-packaging, With the technical reports, including the one focusing on the Household Simulation Model here: https://wrap.org.uk/resources/report/helping-people-reduce-fresh-produce-waste) This report will fundamentally change guidance to the use of plastic packaging on fruit and vegetable products in the UK, with global knock on effects. This reduces food waste and plastic packaging waste. |
| URL | https://wrap.org.uk/resources/report/reducing-household-food-waste-and-plastic-packaging |
| Title | Household Simulation Model: A Dataset for Evaluating Interventions to Reduce Packaging and Chicken Waste in UK Households, 2021-2023 |
| Description | This dataset provides the input files and results for the new Household Simulation Model, which explores the impact of four interventions on the amount of packaging and chicken waste generated in UK households. The interventions studied include pack size availability in the market shelves (PCK), shelf life extension for unopened and opened chicken packs (SFH), food portioning in households (PRT), and the likelihood of checking storage and writing a shopping list before the main shopping event (LST). The dataset is organised into four folders, each representing an intervention, with subfolders containing input files for different scenarios and a summary file with the results. The provided data can be used to analyse the effectiveness of various strategies in reducing packaging and food waste and to inform policy-making and consumer behavior change efforts. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No impacts as of 8/9/23. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=856483 |
| Title | Reducing Plastic Packaging and Food Waste Through Product Innovation Simulation: Household Behavioural Insights Around Packaging, Single and Reuse Options, and Food: 2021-2022 |
| Description | This dataset was produced as part of the project: Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation, funded by the NERC (Ref: NE/V010654/1). The wider project was concerned with building a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model that can simulate food and food packaging as it moves through a household, from purchase to disposal. This dataset is qualitative in nature and was created to inform the modelling process. Remote qualitative interviews were planned and conducted, and participants were also asked to fill out entries on a research diary covering 4 days within a 7 day period. The interviews were semi-structured, and questions relating to waste and food practices were planned around 4 main areas: general household background, daily routines, weekly routines and shopping habits, waste and disposal practices, and attitudes to potential innovation in food packaging. A fifth section was based on photo-elicitation, to gauge participant attitudes to ageing produce. The diaries provided to participants had a system of prompts and questions that aimed to capture the movement of particular food items through the home and practices related to this movement over four separate days. Image files could also be submitted by participants, either included in the text files or as email attachments to the researcher. Follow up interviews were planned, which would be conducted after the second diary entry was complete and returned, but time constraints meant that only one follow up interview was conducted. A screening questionnaire was used to recruit and select participants, which was disseminated through university research recruitment channels and through social media accounts set up for the project. Informed consent for this questionnaire was gained at that stage, but was also gained prior to the remote interview, for both the interview and the diary research. However, the questionnaire data was not analysed and is not included in the collection as it was for recruitment purposes only. The data collection is comprised of 28 interview transcripts, 25 completed research diaries and 91 image files (produced by research participants) as part of the research diaries. Where image files were included in text documents by participants, the image files have been extracted and saved as photographs separately. These are stored as .docx files and .tiff files accordingly. Each of these was anonymised according to the anonymization plan. As there are multiple forms of data for each participant, each participant that completed the questionnaire was given a unique identifier, with suffixes describing the type of data. These are described in the readme file for the data collection. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Impact achieved through wider impact of model. Dataset also allowed for additional publications not focussed on the wider project. |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/855838 |
| Title | Reducing Plastic Packaging and Food Waste Through Product Innovation Simulation: Household Simulation Model for Chicken Fillets, 2021-2023 |
| Description | This data collection presents the new Household Simulation Model (HHSM) specifically developed for chicken fillets, using Arena software version 16.2. The primary aim of the HHSM is to offer insights into the impact of various market and consumer behavior interventions on the amount of food and packaging waste generated in households. By simulating diverse scenarios, the model enables researchers and stakeholders to understand the potential effects of different interventions on household decision-making related to chicken fillet consumption and waste generation. The data collection contains three components: the Arena simulation model (HHSM) (.doe file), an accompanying input/output data file developed in Microsoft Excel (.xlsm file), which allows users to modify input parameters and retrieve the outputs generated by the HHSM and an detailed user manual of the model (.pdf file). This data collection is a valuable resource for researchers, policy-makers, and industry professionals interested in understanding the dynamics of household consumption and waste generation related to chicken fillets, offering a powerful tool for investigating potential interventions, promoting sustainable consumption patterns, and informing future policies in the context of food waste reduction and resource optimisation. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None as of 8/9/23. It is understood that as of this date, WRAP are using the model as a result of a workshop delivered on 17/5/23 and producing research/recommendations which will be available in the future. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=856471 |
| Title | Reducing Plastic Packaging and Food Waste Through Product Innovation Simulation: Household Simulation Model for Grapes, 2021-2023 |
| Description | This data collection presents the new Household Simulation Model (HHSM) specifically developed for grapes, using Arena software version 16.2. The primary aim of the HHSM is to offer insights into the impact of various market and consumer behavior interventions on the amount of food and packaging waste generated in households. By simulating diverse scenarios, the model enables researchers and stakeholders to understand the potential effects of different interventions on household decision-making related to grapes consumption and waste generation. The data collection contains three components: the Arena simulation model (HHSM) (.doe file), an accompanying input/output data file developed in Microsoft Excel (.xlsm file), which allows users to modify input parameters and retrieve the outputs generated by the HHSM and an detailed user manual of the model (.pdf file). |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No impacts as of 8/9/23. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=856554 |
| Description | Building the Food Systems Transformation Solution-Bank Synergy fund |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Cambridge Neuroscience |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Transforming UK Food Systems Programme's Annual Project Synergy Fund aims to support cross-project activities to add value to the funded portfolio, foster cross-project collaboration, drive programme-level impact, build capacity and encourage partnerships with related investments. We joined a collaboration for a Synergy fund collaboration. I have engaged in workshops and developing food systems solutions, and food waste soltutions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | There is considerable interest in making changes to transform the UK 'food system' to improve the health of people and the planet. Our food system is complex, and can be described as the interconnected system of everything and everybody that influences the activities involved in bringing food from farm to fork. Many researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, including businesses and charities, are exploring and testing ways to intervene in the system, to make it more environmentally sustainable and promote population health. There is a wealth of ideas on solutions, but these are spread across many different sources, making it difficult to get a clear picture of what is possible. Even within the Transforming UK Food Systems Programme, there are multiple projects looking to identify, list, taxonomise and test possible solutions to changing parts of the system. Our proposed Food System Transformation Solution Bank will bring a range of sources together to make it easier for researchers and decision-makers to identify potential changes which can be made and tested, to reduce inefficiency and transform the UK food system. |
| Impact | na |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with WRAP to develop the Household Simulation Model |
| Organisation | Waste and Resources Action Programme |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Workshops developed for WRAP on the model and how to use it, delivered in September 2022 and May 2023, along with periodic additional engagement on areas of key research findings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Modelling expertise of key analysts used to help with validation and set up of model, and direction of modelling. - Key analysts in attendance at weekly meetings of project team, and further meetings to configure model. - Feedback from key analysts on documents associated with model, e.g. journal papers and presentations etc. - Junior analysts tasked with using earlier version of model to produce paper on relevant questions introduced by the new model. |
| Impact | Each of the publication outputs published from this paper have been as a result of this collaboration. Partners from WRAP are acknowledged as authors or in acknowledgements as appropriate. |
| Start Year | 2021 |