The Proof Is in the Pudding: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Household Food Waste Reduction Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Haley Everitt; Paul van der Werf; Jamie A Seabrook; Jason A Gilliland

doi:10.1007/s43615-022-00193-7

The Proof Is in the Pudding: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Household Food Waste Reduction Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Circ Econ Sustain. 2022 Aug 3:1-18. doi: 10.1007/s43615-022-00193-7. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Haley Everitt^{1

2}, Paul van der Werf^{1

2}, Jamie A Seabrook^{1

3

4

5

6

7}, Jason A Gilliland^{1

2

3

4

5

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Human Environments Analysis Laboratory, Social Sciences Centre 2333, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K7 Canada.
² Department of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada.
⁴ Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON Canada.
⁵ Children's Health Research Institute, London, ON Canada.
⁶ School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada.
⁸ School of Health Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada.

Abstract

To halve per capita global food waste by 2030, policies and programs that effectively reduce household food waste generation are needed. Building upon a previous randomized controlled trial, this study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of the "Reduce Food Waste, Save Money" household food waste reduction intervention by comparing direct measurements of household food waste generated by treatment (n = 47) and control households (n = 52) over three time periods. The results indicate that there has been a long-term, sustained 30% reduction of avoidable food waste sent to landfill by treatment households following the implementation of this intervention. Additionally, this study assessed the impact of pandemic circumstances on the quantity and composition of household food waste by comparing direct measurements of food waste generated by the same households before (October 2017) and during (June 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first wave of the pandemic in Ontario, Canada, study households (n = 99) sent 2.98 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 54% was classified as avoidable food waste, and the remaining 46% as unavoidable food waste. During the pandemic, the generation of unavoidable food waste significantly increased by 65% (p < 0.01). There were also significant changes to the composition of wasted food, including a 78% increase in avoidable fruit and vegetables (p < 0.01), a 228% increase in avoidable other food (p < 0.01), and an 84% increase in unavoidable other food (p = 0.02).

Keywords: Direct measurement; Longitudinal study; Organic household waste; Waste characterization; Waste management.

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