Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review

Mohammad Iranmanesh; Morteza Ghobakhloo; Mehrbakhsh Nilashi; Ming-Lang Tseng; Madugoda Gunaratnege Senali; Ghazanfar Ali Abbasi

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2022.106127

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review

Appetite. 2022 Sep 1:176:106127. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106127. Epub 2022 Jun 14.

Authors

Mohammad Iranmanesh¹, Morteza Ghobakhloo², Mehrbakhsh Nilashi³, Ming-Lang Tseng⁴, Madugoda Gunaratnege Senali⁵, Ghazanfar Ali Abbasi⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia. Electronic address: m.iranmanesh@ecu.edu.au.
² School of Economics and Business, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania; Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: morteza.ghobakhloo@ktu.lt.
³ UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, No. 1 Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Height, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: nilashidotnet@hotmail.com.
⁴ Institute of Innovation and Circular Economy, Asia University, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taiwan; University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. Electronic address: tsengminglang@asia.edu.tw.
⁵ School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia. Electronic address: smadugod@our.ecu.edu.au.
⁶ Management and Marketing Department, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: ghazanfar.abbasi@hotmail.co.uk.

Abstract

Food waste has adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts and increases the prevalence of food insecurity. Panic buying at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak raised serious concerns about a potential rise in food waste levels and higher pressure on waste management systems. This article aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on food waste behaviour and the extent to which it occurs using the systematic review method. A total of 38 articles were identified and reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic led to reductions in household food waste in most countries. Several changes in shopping and cooking behaviours, food consumption, and managing inventory and leftovers have occurred due to COVID-19. Based on these insights, we predicted that some desirable food-management habits would be retained, and others would roll back in the post-COVID-19 world. The review contributes to the food waste literature by offering a comprehensive overview of behavioural changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and future research directions.

Keywords: COVID-19 lockdown; Food waste behaviour; Household food waste; Sustainability.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Food
Humans
Pandemics
Panic
Refuse Disposal*