Bridging the gap between self-assessments and measured household food waste : A hybrid valuation approach

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Waste management (New York, N.Y.). - 1999. - 95(2019) vom: 15. Juli, Seite 259-270
1. Verfasser: Elimelech, Efrat (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Ert, Eyal, Ayalon, Ofira
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2019
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Waste management (New York, N.Y.)
Schlagworte:Journal Article Avoidable food waste Food waste assessment Food waste measurement Household food waste Monetary losses Self-reporting
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Great effort is invested in mapping the extent of household food waste and its main determinants. However, food waste valuation remains a challenging task. Valuation methods can be divided roughly into objective measurements that are based on physical waste surveys, and subjective self-assessments that are based on diaries or questionnaires. Self-assessment methods have been more popular than food waste measurement because they are less costly. The goal of this paper is to empirically test whether self-assessments can accurately reflect objective measurement. To answer this question, we implemented a hybrid valuation approach by integrating and comparing three methods: a self-assessment questionnaire, a physical waste survey, and a food expenditure survey. Self-assessments slightly underestimated measured food waste proportion (13.7% vs. 16.3%, respectively). The results also show a positive, yet, not very strong correlation between the measures and the self-assessments of unconsumed and partly consumed avoidable food waste in most food categories. Self-assessments of monetary losses were €42.07 per household per month on average, overestimating calculated losses of €25.74 on average. Our findings question the validity of self-assessments. The current paper demonstrates the questionable nature of the implicit assumption that self-assessment reflects the true level of food waste and suggests a rigorous method for exploring this relation
Beschreibung:Date Completed 12.09.2019
Date Revised 12.09.2019
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1879-2456
DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2019.06.015