Drivers of current food waste generation, threats of future increase and opportunities for reduction

The aim of this study was to identify the main causes of food waste generation along the food supply chain and how current trends in technology, food chain management and legislation, and consume rs' behaviours and lifestyles will increase or reduce food waste in the future. The whole food supply chain was analysed horizontally – by chain segment: from farms’ production, up to households’ consumption – and vertically by establishing three context categories: the Technological context, the Institutional context (referred to business management, economy, legislation, and policy), and the Social context (referred to consumer behaviours and lifestyles). The main current causes of food waste generation, future threats of food waste increase, and possibilities for reduction were inventoried by chain segment and context category: 597 items were collected. This account was principally based on the available scientific literature. The collected entries were drawn from 171 different bibliographic references, but also from the experience of the specialists involved in the study. The analysis of the inventory led to the identification of the food waste drivers, which have been classified according to possible strategies of intervention and type of legislation and policy involved depending on the concerned context categories.