Food Waste Generation at Household Level: Results of a Survey among Employees of Two European Research Centers in Italy and Germany

There is a broad consensus in literature that private households are significant contributors to the total amount of food waste in the EU. Thus, any strategy to meaningfully combat food wastage must put the end consumer in the center of prevention activities. This requires deeper insights into people’s motivations to discard still edible food and knowledge about potential barriers to reduce wasting. This paper reports on results of an online survey among two European research centers in Italy (JRC/Ispra) and Germany (KIT/Karlsruhe). The focus of the survey was on households’ behaviors (shopping, eating, and food preparation habits) and its influence on the generation of food waste. Furthermore, reasons for the disposal of food as well as measures and technologies most needed to prevent wastage were discussed. The results of the survey are analyzed, especially with regard to two questions: (1) Are there considerable differences between Ispra and Karlsruhe? (2) Are there considerable similarities or inconsistencies with the results of previous studies?