Report: Food Waste in the Maltese Retail Section

Food waste in Malta is an important issue which receives little public attention from society at large. Malta has one of the highest per-capita waste generation rates in the EU, but recycling rates are low. Most food waste ends up in landfills which are quickly filling up, pressuring the already scarce Maltese surface area. In addition, there are environmental, economic, and social justice concerns with high levels of food waste generation and poor management. This report focuses on retail food waste as this stream is poorly understood and needs to be studied further. Much of retail food waste is currently landfilled while it is still fit for donation to food banks or re-use in a biodigester. Therefore, this research aims to analyse current food waste practices and to suggest strategies to reduce and repurpose food waste discarded by the retail sector. This report is written for Friends of the Earth Malta, a Maltese environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO). Key findings include that combating food waste faces a multitude of barriers, determined by several key factors such as political engagement and culture but also the practices of stakeholders including suppliers, foodbanks, waste collection and processing and waste quantification. Interactions between these factors and stakeholders shape barriers to successfully combating food waste.

Report: Food Waste in the Maltese Retail Section

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