Carbon footprints across the food supply chain: A microscopic review on food waste-related sustainability assessment

Abstract

Reducing the carbon footprint along the food supply chain neutralizes the cost of climate change-related impacts on the environment. A third of the food produced globally is wasted along the food value chain. This paper presents a microscopic review covering studies related to carbon footprint analysis across the food industry. The review focuses on the critical aspects of lifecycle-based techniques across the food supply chain, namely, a) calculating the amount of food waste/loss b) evaluating and quantifying the environmental impacts associated with food waste accumulation along the value chain and, c) identifying the stages along the value chain that contribute potentially to the food waste-related emissions and environmental impacts. The results show food waste in terms of mass does not necessarily indicate the food waste-related impact. Although animal-containing products have relatively low waste in terms of mass, they contribute significantly to the food waste-related impact, explicitly affecting global warming potential. This paper's outcomes support food waste-related sustainability assessment and transition to a circular food supply chain.