- English
In the course of implementing the Paris climate agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), policymakers, practitioners and academics have increasingly acknowledged the urgency of addressing the food waste (FW) issue in the urban areas of developing economies. This paper selected Hanoi as a case study to clarify the impact of daily lifestyle on food waste generation, as well as to evaluate policy options to prevent, mitigate and reduce food waste generation by consumers in Hanoi. Based on a questionnaire survey, the current situation of household FW generation was examined and the main reasons for FW generation from the consumer side were clarified. The FW generation rate in Hanoi is estimated to be 1.192 kg/day/household in urban areas and 1,694 kg/day/household in rural areas. The cooking waste generated during processing and preparation of meals covers more than 70% of the total FW generation. Regarding household waste separation, it found that the majority of the respondents (58%) did not separate FW before disposal, while 24% separated FW for sanitary reasons, and 23% separated and recycled FW. The dominant reason for having leftovers at home was food passing its expiration date and the second major reason was due to the deteriorating quality of the food. When eating out, the top two reasons were due to the volume of each dish being too large to finish, and people ordering too much. In addition, it found that people in Hanoi commonly eat at home, which reveals that households might be a large source of food waste generation.
- English
