5. Conclusions
The most important finding in this study is that there are great opportunities for reducing food waste by decreasing the storage temperature in supermarket cheese, dairy, deli and meat departments. Waste reduction increased with decreased temperature, with the maximum reduction (16–30%) for each department being found at the lowest storage temperature tested (2◦C). However, since lower storage temperature requires higher energy input, electricity consumption increased for all departments with decreased storage temperature. It was largest for the dairy department, due to the large volumes of dairy products in need of cooling. The net effect of this waste reduction measure was calculated by subtracting the increased energy requirement from the decreased cost of food waste. The highest cost efficiency was found for the meat department, where a reduction from 4◦C to 2◦C gave net savings potential of 56 k SEK store−1y−1, corresponding to 12 MgCO2e store−1y−1. In the deli department, a temperature reduction from 8◦C to 5–2◦C gave net savings of 5–7 k SEK store−1y−1, corresponding to 0.4–0.8 Mg CO2e store−1y−1. In the cheese and dairy departments the cost of reducing storage temperature exceeded the potential savings by so much that if this measure were introduced in all four departments, it could result in a net cost. A general reduction in storage temperature would efficiently reduce food waste, but it could lead to a large net cost. Making the temperature reduction measure selective for products with low turnover and high relative waste would give the highest cost efficiency, although the largest waste reduction potential in terms of mass would be obtained for products with high turnover.
5. บทสรุปThe most important finding in this study is that there are great opportunities for reducing food waste by decreasing the storage temperature in supermarket cheese, dairy, deli and meat departments. Waste reduction increased with decreased temperature, with the maximum reduction (16–30%) for each department being found at the lowest storage temperature tested (2◦C). However, since lower storage temperature requires higher energy input, electricity consumption increased for all departments with decreased storage temperature. It was largest for the dairy department, due to the large volumes of dairy products in need of cooling. The net effect of this waste reduction measure was calculated by subtracting the increased energy requirement from the decreased cost of food waste. The highest cost efficiency was found for the meat department, where a reduction from 4◦C to 2◦C gave net savings potential of 56 k SEK store−1y−1, corresponding to 12 MgCO2e store−1y−1. In the deli department, a temperature reduction from 8◦C to 5–2◦C gave net savings of 5–7 k SEK store−1y−1, corresponding to 0.4–0.8 Mg CO2e store−1y−1. In the cheese and dairy departments the cost of reducing storage temperature exceeded the potential savings by so much that if this measure were introduced in all four departments, it could result in a net cost. A general reduction in storage temperature would efficiently reduce food waste, but it could lead to a large net cost. Making the temperature reduction measure selective for products with low turnover and high relative waste would give the highest cost efficiency, although the largest waste reduction potential in terms of mass would be obtained for products with high turnover.
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