Adoption of circular economy for food waste management in the context of a developing country

Abstract

Food wastage is a global concern with high economic, social and environmental impacts. Pakistan, a developing country, is also significantly affected by the adverse impacts of food wastage. For overcoming this problem, the transition from a Linear to a Circular Economy (CE) for the management of food wastage can serve as a viable strategy. However, there are barriers of political, technical and cultural nature, which are impediments in the path of this transition. This study aims to identify and prioritize these barriers in order of their significance. This research study evaluated and ranked these barriers using a Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). A total of 15 barriers were analyzed, and the ‘complicated intrinsic nature of CE’, ‘misleading information about shelf-life leading to waste rather than distribution’, ‘the poor economic viability of start-ups with CE model’, ‘corporate and organizational hesitance to change/innovate’ and ‘technological backwardness of farmers/growers on the agricultural production side’ were ranked as the most significant hurdles. The novelty of this study lies in its application. This study is unique as it has focused on developing countries and proposed policy recommendations for the transition towards a CE. In light of the above-mentioned results, this study provides policy recommendations for public and private sector policymakers that would facilitate the food industry in shifting towards the CE model.