Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Highlights
Multidisciplinary food supply chain (FSC) & waste management knowledge inventory. A repository of knowledge and primary/secondary data for the classification and modelling of issues related to (1) waste management and reduction in food and packaging supply chain (FPSC), (2) user-friendly data analysis and visualisation, (3) development of innovative digital technology solutions for the benefit of all stakeholders including final consumer. The Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) paradigm will be used. The adoption of instruments enabling regular food waste measurement will be investigated (in connection with Spoke 1).
Selection of case studies and applications for primary data collection (M14).
Results of food waste quantification in retail and food service segments (M18).
The firms of food supply chain might make impactful decisions for food waste prevention and management, yet few of them have information necessary for this aim, particularly in the distribution system. Firm-level monitoring & measurement of food waste is onerous and infrequent, in spite of corporate reporting standards (GRI’s 306). Food waste indicators, guidelines, national statistics have been established at country level, but they are too aggregated to support corporate strategies and operations (Schaltegger et al., Sustain Dev 2017). Case studies shed light on adoption barriers and drivers (Annosi et al., Ind Market Manag 2021), but they could not be externally valid given the high heterogeneity of distribution firms (by stage, size, channel, product group, waste type, location). The development of innovative dashboards and data warehouse and other technological and management instruments that allow firms to monitor and measure regularly and efficiently food waste is still an open question and understudied topic (Ciccullo et al., Resour Conserv Recycl 2021).
The research project aims to enhance knowledge on monitoring and measurement of activable instruments at firm level, through the following activities.