Food Waste National Baseline and Food Waste Index

Food Waste National Baseline and Food Waste Index for Monitoring the Progress of SDG 12.3.1

The study aimed to establish a national food waste baseline. Data were collected through interviews and analysis of actual waste in 2022. The survey was conducted in 6 regions: North, Northeast, South, Central, Bangkok and its vicinity, and East.

The results of the study were obtained from data collection of 7 types of sources:

households (150 samples)
restaurants (160 samples)
hotels (186 samples)
educational institutions (12 samples)
retail stores (42 samples)
fresh markets (41 samples)
food processing plants (15 samples).

Households

(150 samples)

restaurants

(160 samples)

Hotels

(186 samples)

educational institutions

(12 samples)

Retail stores

(42 samples)

Fresh markets

(41 samples)

Food processing plants

(15 samples)

Overview of the country

National food waste baseline

The analysis of the national food waste baseline, the sources considered included household consumption, food service (e.g. restaurants, hotels, educational institutions), and food distribution (e.g. retail stores and fresh markets), found that Thailand has a food waste volume of 12,185,215 tons/year, with household consumption generating the highest amount of food waste at 9,406,592 tons/year (77%), followed by restaurants at 1,417,734 tons/year (12%), educational institutions at 508,391 tons/year (4%), fresh markets at 411,691 tons/year (3%), hotels at 256,353 tons/year (2%), and retail stores at 184,454 tons/year (2%).

National Food Waste Index

The analysis of the national food waste index found that Thailand has a food waste index of 142 kg/person/year, with household consumption having the highest food waste index value of 97 kg/person/year (68%), followed by food services (e.g. restaurants, hotels, educational institutions) at 29 kg/person/year (20%), and food distribution (e.g. retail stores and fresh markets) at 16 kg/person/year (12%).

Behaviors and factors causing food waste

Household consumption: Food waste occurs in the steps of (1) raw material storage, (2) raw material preparation, (3) cooking, and (4) eating. The analysis results found that:
- Eating is the main cause of food waste. It occurs when households want to eat a variety of foods but cannot finish them, buy more food than they need, or do not eat some ingredients on their plates. In addition, it occurs when ready-to-eat food is purchased but does not taste good, so it is discarded.
- Raw material preparation (inedible leftovers, such as vegetables’ roots, garlic peels, eggshells, fish scales) and cooking (occurring while pouring out water, such as water from rising rice, spaghetti boiling water, or cooked food falling into the sink) are the secondary causes of food waste.
- Material storage causes food waste when too many ingredients are purchased, causing them to spoil before they can be consumed.

Food services: It includes hotels, restaurants, and educational institutions. Food waste occurs in the steps of (1) raw material storage, (2) raw material preparation/cooking, and (3) eating. The analysis results found that:
- Eating is the main cause of food waste. This is caused by customers/students/students/staff not eating it all.
- Material preparation/cooking is the second most common cause of food waste. Food waste is generated from peeling or trimming of raw materials, and trimming raw materials for aesthetic purposes. For the material storage process, food waste is caused by many reasons. Examples are: chefs do not use raw materials that are close to expiration, hotels lack proper inventory management, and educational institutions lack efficient systems for controlling the temperature and storing raw materials. In addition, having a variety of menus requiring the purchase and storage of many raw materials is a cause of food waste.

Food retailing: It includes supermarkets, convenience stores, and fresh markets.
Food waste occurs in steps
1. selling raw materials and
2. selling cooked food. The analysis results found that:

- Selling raw material is the main cause of food waste. When retailers cannot predict the number of customers, they sometimes excessively stock raw materials. Fresh markets discard some parts of raw materials for aesthetic purposes.
- Selling cooked food is the second most common cause. Cooked food has to be discarded when retailers cannot predict the demand of consumers.

Households

Food Waste Data by Source: Households

Food waste proportions

The highest amount of household food waste comes from Bangkok and its surrounding areas at 2,837,680 tons/year (31%), followed by the Northeastern region at 2,732,696 tons/year (30%), the Central region at 1,183,641 tons/year (13%), the Northern region at 1,128,280 tons/year (12%), the Eastern region at 658,637 tons/year (7%), and the Southern region at 590,030 tons/year (6%). The food that households typically discard as food waste is categorized into three parts:

Part 1: Food waste from raw ingredients, fresh food, and dry food that have not been cooked
These include vegetables (12%) due to their perishability, followed by starchy foods (11%), fruits (11%), condiments (11%), meat (10%), dairy products (10%), drinks (10%), and seasonings (10%).

Part 2: Food waste from food preparation or cooking
This includes inedible parts of condiments (25%), meat scraps (25%), inedible parts of vegetables and fruits (e.g., vegetable roots, fruit peels, etc.), and used cooking oil (25%).

Part 3: Food waste from eating
This includes inedible parts of food (24%), followed by soups or broths (23%) and edible parts of food (20%).

Causes of food waste

Results from a survey indicate that the main cause of food waste is during the eating stage (46%), followed by the food preparation/cooking stage (36%) and food storage (18%). The specific causes in each stage are as follows:

Stage 1: Food storage
The main cause is purchasing in excess, resulting in uneaten food (35%), followed by poor meal planning leading to food spoilage or expiration (34%), and improper storage methods (31%).

Stage 2: Food preparation
The main cause is inedible parts like roots of some vegetables (62%), followed by food waste from trimming for aesthetic purposes (36%), and other causes, such as food falling on the floor (2%).

Stage 3: Cooking
The main cause is discarding water, such as rice washing water or pasta boiling water, with food going down the drain or into the sink (38%), followed by food sticking to the pan (33%) and cooking accidents, such as burned food or food falling on the floor (29%).

Stage 4: Eating
The main cause is preparing too much food (8%), purchasing too much food (8%), desiring variety but not finishing all (8%), food falling on the floor (8%), and expired ready-to-eat food (8%). Other causes include imbalanced rice and dishes (7%), food/drinks not to taste (7%), not consuming certain ingredients on the plate (7%), and unripe ingredients (6%).

Food waste measurement

According to actual measurement, the average food waste is 1.04 kg/household/day. The majority of household food waste (84%) is discarded to local authorities, 13% is used for animal feed, 2% is turned into compost, and 1% goes down the drain.

The breakdown of food waste is as follows: Fresh food from storage: 0.12 kg/household/day (12%), such as spoiled rice, vegetables, fruits, milk, and expired bread. Dry food from storage: 0.04 kg/household/day (3%), such as dried noodles, canned fish, and sauces. Edible parts: 0.49 kg/household/day (46%), including rice, noodles, vegetable scraps, and soups. Inedible parts: 0.40 kg/household/day (38%), such as vegetable inedible parts, fruit peels, animal bones, fish bones, and eggshells.

Restaurants

Food Waste Data by Source: Restaurants

Causes of food waste

A survey of 160 restaurants showed that food waste occurred in three stages:

Stage 1: Food storage
The main reason is chefs not using ingredients near expiry first (35%), followed by a lack of effective cooling or storage systems to extend ingredient shelf life (33%), and purchasing excess stock due to a diverse menu (31%).

Stage 2: Food preparation/cooking
The main reason is food waste during preparation (53%), followed by the discarding of poor-quality ingredients like wilted vegetables or fruit with insect holes (31%), and waste during cooking such as burning or spillage (16%).

Stage 3: Eating
The main reason is customers not finishing their meals (55%), followed by a lack of policies for reprocessing untouched food for donation or sale at a discount (45%).

Challenges in managing food waste

Restaurant operators mostly do not repurpose separated food waste (29%), and the separation process requires labor and time (29%), leading to a lack of perceived benefits. Other challenges include the high cost of separation (24%) and lack of knowledge on how to properly separate food waste (18%).

Food waste measurement

Actual measurement shows that restaurants generate an average of 18.4 kg of food waste per day. Most of the food waste is disposed of by local authorities (86%), with some used for animal feed (10%) and compost (2%).

The breakdown of food waste is as follows: Fresh food from storage: 0.6 kg/restaurant/day (3%), such as spoiled vegetables. Dry food from storage: 0.1 kg/restaurant/day (0%). Edible parts: 12 kg/restaurant/day (64%), such as rice, vegetable scraps, meat scraps, and broths. Inedible parts: 6 kg/restaurant/day (32%), such as inedible vegetable parts.

The main cause of food waste is the eating process (60%), followed by ingredient preparation/cooking (36%), and ingredient storage (4%).

Hotel

Food Waste Data by Source: Hotel

Causes of food waste

From the survey, food waste is generated from 3 stages:

Stage 1: Ingredient storage
The main cause of food waste in this stage is the lack of proper inventory management (17%). Other contributing factors include staff lacking knowledge about storing ingredients and rotating food (16%), the absence of a defined schedule for ordering and receiving ingredients (14%), and not categorizing ingredients (14%).

Stage 2: Preparation/cooking
The main cause is trimming ingredients for aesthetic purposes (34%). Other factors include not weighing or measuring ingredients and seasonings, leading to inconsistent food standards and taste (18%), and the absence of standard recipes, which also causes inconsistency in food standards and taste (17%).

Stage 3: Eating
The primary cause is the lack of a policy for processing, donating, or selling unserved food at a discounted price (55%). Another issue is the inappropriate portion sizes and serving methods (45%).

Problems and obstacles of managing food waste

The survey found that most restaurants do not allow employees to take leftover food home. As a result, leftover food must be discarded as food waste. Allowing employees to take home leftovers could lead to fraud (26%). Other issues include not utilizing separated food waste (25%) and the need for significant labor and time to sort food waste (23%). This highlights the importance of creating awareness about waste separation to gain cooperation from hotel guests.

Food waste measurement

The study of actual food waste volume found that the average food waste is 56 kg/establishment/day. Most of the food waste from hotels is collected by the municipal trucks for disposal (90%), while the remainder (10%) is used for composting.

When looking at the stages of food waste generation: Fresh food waste from the storage stage is 1 kg/establishment/day (2%), such as spoiled or unattractive vegetables. Dry food waste from the storage stage is 0.2 kg/establishment/day, such as bread. Edible food waste is 31 kg/establishment/day (55%), such as rice, spaghetti, vegetables, bread crusts, pork fat, chicken skin, and vegetable trimmings. Inedible food waste is 24 kg/establishment/day (42%).

The main cause of food waste is the stage of eating (61%), followed by food preparation/cooking (37%) and ingredient storage (2%).

Educational Institutions

Food Waste Data by Source: Educational Institutions

Causes of Food Waste

From the survey, food waste occurs in 3 stages:

Stage 1: Raw material storage
The main cause of food waste in this stage is due to the procurement of raw materials for a variety of menus, leading to an overstock of ingredients (40%), and the lack of a proper cold storage system to extend the shelf life of raw materials (40%). The issue of chefs not using ingredients approaching expiration first (first in-first out) (21%) also causes food waste.

Stage 2: Preparation/cooking
The main cause of food waste in this stage is the preparation of raw materials (50%). The next main cause is discarding ingredients that are of poor quality, such as stale ingredients, wilted fruits and vegetables, or those with pest damage (33%), followed by waste during the cooking process (17%).

Stage 3: Eating
The primary cause of food waste at this stage is students, staff, or faculty not finishing their meals (68%). The secondary cause is the lack of a policy to repurpose uneaten food, donate it, or sell it at a reduced price (32%).

Problems and obstacles of food waste management

From the survey, it was found that the main problem in managing food waste is the need for labor and time for handling food waste (30%). The second issue is that students do not know how to properly separate food waste (26%), followed by not utilizing separated food waste (26%). Additionally, separating food waste incurs high costs (19%). This indicates that raising awareness about waste separation is crucial for gaining cooperation from students.

Food Waste Measurement

The actual measured food waste volume showed an average of 40 kg/location/day. Most food waste from educational institutions is collected by the local municipality (49%), followed by being used for animal feed (36%), composting for educational purposes (8%), donation to relevant organizations (6%), and disposal into the drainage system (1%).

Food waste from educational institutions is divided into: Fresh food from the raw material storage stage: 1 kg/location/day (2%) (e.g., expired meat, expired meatballs). Dry food from the raw material storage stage: 0.01 kg/location/day (e.g., seasoning sauces). Edible food: 24 kg/location/day (60%) (e.g., rice, noodles, vegetables, soup, vegetable and fruit scraps). Inedible food: 15 kg/location/day (38%) (e.g., inedible parts of vegetables).

The main cause of food waste is during the preparation/cooking stage (53%), followed by food consumption (45%), and raw material storage (2%).

Retail Stores

Food Waste Data Classified by Source: Retail Stores

Causes of food waste

From the survey, it was found that food waste sources can be divided into two main sections:

Section 1: Raw material zone
The main cause of food waste in this section is the inability to predict customer demand, leading to overstocking of raw materials (28%). Other causes include:

The quality of raw materials does not meet customer requirements (22%).
No system in place for promoting sales or discounting raw materials that are near expiration (20%).
Inadequate cooling systems (17%).
Lack of a “first-in, first-out” policy (12%).

Section 2: Ready-to-eat food zone
The main cause of food waste in this section is leftover food from sales because customer demand cannot be accurately predicted (27%). Other causes include:

Trimming raw materials for the aesthetic appearance of food (25%).
Lack of proper food storage systems leading to spoilage before sale (18%).
No meal planning for ready-to-eat foods, and no research on customer preferences (18%).
Lack of promotional systems (12%).

Problems and obstacles of food waste management

From the survey, it was found that the main obstacles in managing food waste are the labor and time required for waste sorting (39%). Other obstacles include the lack of utilization of sorted food waste, leading to a lack of motivation for sorting (36%) and the high cost of food waste sorting (18%). Therefore, it is recommended to provide more knowledge on food waste sorting and management methods to retail stores.

Food Waste Measurement

From the actual measurement of food waste, it was found that the average food waste per location is 32 kg/day. The food waste from retail stores can be divided into food waste from the raw material sales zone (24 kg/day, 76%) and from the ready-to-eat food sales zone (8 kg/day, 24%).

Food waste consists of fresh food (such as meat, vegetables, fruits, milk, yogurt, and processed meat) totaling 20 kg/day (64%), dry food (such as seasonings, salad dressings, canned food, snacks, and beverages) totaling 5 kg/day (17%), edible food waste (such as spoiled ready-to-eat meals and expired bakery items) totaling 4 kg/day (12%), and inedible food waste totaling 2 kg/day (7%).

Most of the food waste from retail stores is disposed of by being collected in waste rooms and picked up by municipal trucks for disposal (97%). A small portion is handled by external contractors for landfill or incineration (3%).

Fresh Markets

Food Waste Data Classified by Source: Fresh Markets

Causes of food waste

From the survey, food waste is originated from two sources:

Raw material stores
The main cause of food waste in these stores is the trimming of raw materials for aesthetic purposes (27%). Other causes include:

Raw materials that are not of good quality, such as wilted vegetables/fruits or produce with insect damage, which must be discarded (25%).
Damaged goods during transport that need to be discarded (20%).
Inadequate cooling systems (19%).
Moisture loss during the day, causing spoilage before use (10%).

Ready-to-eat food stores
The main cause of food waste in these stores is unsold food that becomes less fresh and its quality declines (29%). Other causes include:

Purchasing raw materials in bulk because they are cheaper, leading to excess stock that cannot be used up (28%).
Incorrect estimation of customer demand, leading to over-preparation of food (25%).
Unpopular taste or customer preferences not met (18%).

Problems and obstacles in food waste Management

From the survey, the main obstacles in managing food waste are the labor and time required for handling food waste (37%), followed by the high cost of sorting food waste (as it requires separate bins/bags for sorting) (31%), and the sorted food waste not being utilized (resulting in no incentive to separate it from general waste) (17%).

Food waste measurement

The actual measurement of food waste shows an average of 899 kg/day per location. At fresh markets, food waste is managed by vendors who sort and collect food scraps at designated waste collection points in the market, where municipal trucks come to dispose of it (97%). A small portion is used for composting or making liquid fertilizer (3%).

Food waste from fresh markets is originated from 4 main sources: first, fresh food waste from raw material stores (such as vegetable scraps, spoiled vegetables/fruits, and discarded meat parts) totaling 666 kg/day (74%); Second, dry food waste from raw material stores (such as seasoning) totaling 27 kg/day (3%); Third, inedible food waste (such as inedible vegetable parts) totaling 153 kg/day (17%); and Forth, edible food waste (such as leftover rice and noodle scraps) totaling 52 kg/day (6%).

The main source of food waste comes from raw material stores (69%), followed by ready-to-eat food sales stores (31%).

Factories

Food Waste Data Classified by Source: Factories

Causes of Food Waste

From the survey, food waste was categorized into several steps:

Step 1: Raw material reception: The main cause of food waste at this step is the disposal of low-quality raw materials (e.g., sorting for quality, size, or completeness) (45%). Other causes include suppliers not ensuring the quality of raw materials before delivery to the factory (23%) and the raw material reception area not having equipment to prevent spillage or falling of materials properly (18%).

Step 2: Raw material storage: The main cause here is the lack of effective inventory management (20%) and no scheduled ordering or receiving times for raw materials (20%). Other causes include the lack of categorization of raw materials (15%), improper temperature control for storing raw materials of different types (15%), employees not understanding how to store and rotate raw materials (first in-first out) (15%), and the lack of or insufficient definition of raw material quality and specifications during procurement (13%).

Step 3: Production/processing: The main causes are quality control of raw materials before production/processing (27%) and trimming of raw materials (27%). Other causes include the quality control of products after production/processing (15%), raw materials falling or spilling during production/processing due to unsuitable or broken equipment (12%), and raw materials falling or spilling during production/processing (12%).

Step 4: Product packaging: The main cause is quality control of products after packaging (36%). Other causes include product falling, spilling, or dropping during transportation to the packaging area, or during the packaging process due to unsuitable or broken equipment (21%), and products falling or spilling during packaging due to a lack of understanding from packaging staff (21%).

Step 5: Overall production planning: The main cause of food waste is cleaning the production lines (57%). Another cause is the factory’s production planning based on customer orders, which makes it difficult to control the amount produced each time (43%).

Problems and Obstacles in Managing Food Waste

From the survey, the main obstacle in managing food waste is that sorting food waste requires labor and time (45%). Other issues include sorted food waste not being utilized (36%), unawareness of employees regarding the proper methods for sorting food waste (9%), and inceasing cost of sorting food waste (9%).

Actual Food Waste Measurement Data

The actual food waste data from food processing factories shows an average of 137 kg of food waste per location per day. The majority of this food waste (50%) is sold to buyers for animal feed. Other disposal methods include composting (20%), sending waste to the municipal waste management system (10%), and wastewater treatment (10%).