Abstract

Food waste contributes to social inequalities and sustainability issues by worsening resource overuse and environmental harm. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17 highlights the importance of reducing food waste to address hunger and promote a sustainable, economically viable global food system. This paper examines the geographic differences in food waste levels among European Union member nations and analyses the associations between food waste and diverse environmental, geographic, social and economic indicators, including Sustainable Development Goals and other sustainability metrics. Using dimensionality reduction methods, non-trivial multivariate connections between food waste and these parameters were identified, allowing for the characterization of countries based on a few significant factors. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to food waste data across European Union countries, which uncovered three distinct groups: (1) those with elevated food waste in primary production, manufacturing and distribution stages; (2) those with lower waste in these domains yet greater waste in restaurants and households; and (3) those performing below average across all food waste parameters. The multivariate linear correlation between the PCA factors and socio-economic parameters is non-significant, but a few (non-linear) regularities could be identified: five of the six countries of the first group above are characterized by plains and an above-average supply of meat or fish. Another pattern observed is that former Eastern Block countries belong to the third group. The research findings offer valuable insights that can inform the efforts of environmental experts, professionals and policymakers working in the circular economy and waste management domains. This knowledge can facilitate the development of more effective strategies aimed at mitigating food waste and promoting sustainability.