Which Behaviours Matter? Prioritising Food Waste Reduction Behaviours for Targeted Policy and Program Approaches

More than half of waste in the global good system’s consumption stage comes from households, yet there is a challenge for policy makers in promoting food waste reduction behaviours to this audience that are both impactful and easy to adopt, without overwhelming them. This study utilises an Impact-Likelihood methodology to identify the range of behaviours associated with household food waste reduction and to organise them according to their impact and likelihood of adoption scores, as well as measures of current adoption. Scores were generated using data from an expert elicitation survey of food waste policy makers and practitioners, as well as a large-scale householder survey. The Impact-Likelihood matrix for household food waste reduction behaviours generated in this study identifies potential priority food waste reduction behaviours associated with ‘using-up’ existing food and checking if other household members are eating before cooking a meal. As such, the matrix provides strategic research and decision support, that can be easily updated, for policy makers to prioritise specific waste reduction behaviours for more targeted engagement with householders