Download Innovative data on food waste in Sweden -

INTERACTION WITH USERS • SESSION F
Innovative data on food waste
in Sweden widespread results through carefully prepared
communication
Louise Sörme and Malin Johansson
Statistics Sweden
Christina Jonsson and Staffan Ågren
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Åsa Stenmarck and Carl Jensen
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Innovative data on food waste in
Sweden widespread results through carefully prepared
communication
Louise Sörme1, Malin Johansson2 Christina Jonsson3 Staffan Ågren4, Åsa Stenmarck5, Carl
Jensen6
Food processing has negative environmental impacts like increased eutrophication and
climate change. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA), the National
Food Agency, and the Swedish Board of Agriculture, have a three-year government mandate
to reduce food waste. Within the consortium Swedish Environmental Emission Data (SMED),
Statistics Sweden has produced innovative data on national food waste. The purpose of the
work is to have reliable, relevant and well communicated data adapted to different user
needs. About 270 000 tonnes of food are unnecessarily thrown in waste annually, mostly
generated by households. A new questionnaire was developed to estimate the amount of
food and drinks thrown down the drain in households, showing that 26 kilograms per
person are thrown down the drain every year.
A carefully prepared communication was planned to present the results via different
dissemination channels and tools, for example press releases, technical reports, article in SCB
paper “Välfärd” and webpages. Infographics was used in digital and printed media, showing
the results in kg per person, as a way to visualize data and increase understanding. By
adapting the communication to different users, partners within the government mandate are
seen as leaders for driving innovation and progress in the field of food waste.
The consortium SMED includes Statistics Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Swedish Meteorological and
Hydrological Institute, involving more than 80 experts and scientists. The aim is to support
the Swedish EPA and Swedish Agency for Marine and Water management in the process of
collecting, calculating and compiling data for Sweden to fulfil its international and national
reporting obligations for environmental statistics.
Key words: food waste, communication, infographics
1
Statistics Sweden, Senior Advisor, Stockholm, Sweden, Email: [email protected]
2
Statistics Sweden, Advisor, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail:
[email protected]
3
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail:
[email protected]
4
5
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
6
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
1.
Introduction and Background
1.1 Food waste
Food processing affects environmental aspects such as the climate, acidification, ecotoxicity,
eutrophication and biodiversity. Food production also contributes to the spread of
environmental toxins, including pesticides, and it is a very water-demanding sector. Food
has to be transported by trucks, planes and boats to reach the consumers. The negative
environmental impact of food processing and transportation has been needlessly done when
food is thrown in the trash.
Food waste is indeed a current topic in Sweden, Europe and globally. In Sweden, there has
been a large focus on food waste the last years. Swedish EPA the National Food Agency, and
the Swedish Board of Agriculture, have a three-year government mandate to reduce food
waste. Food waste is a prioritised waste stream by the Swedish EPA and there are special
national targets for food waste. One example is the national goal to reduce food waste:
“By 2018 at least 50 percent of food waste from households, institutional kitchens, shops and
restaurants must be sorted and treated biologically so that plant nutrients are utilized, with at least 40
percent being treated so that the energy is also utilized.”
There is also an increased focus on food waste within Europe. The statistical office of the
European Union, Eurostat, has initiated a “food waste plug-in”. This is a more detailed
statistical breakdown of waste items and economic activities belonging to food production,
distribution and consumption which ease the follow up on food waste in Europe. Food waste
was mentioned in the document of the Circular Economy (European Commmission, 2015).
Also, the project Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising Waste Prevention Strategies
(FUSIONS) is a project within Europe with focus on preventing food waste (FUSIONS, 2016).
FUSIONS has worked out definitions of food waste, which are used in Sweden for defining
food waste when reporting waste statistics to Eurostat.
At a global level, food waste is included in the new Sustainable Development Goals resolved
by the United Nations (UN, 2016). In goal 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and
production patterns” there is one target for food waste:
By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses
along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
1.2 Reports on food waste
Since food waste is a prioritized waste stream in Sweden, the Swedish EPA has provided
several public reports on food waste on their website. The reports are conducted by the
consortium Swedish Environmental Emission Data (SMED) on behalf of the Swedish EPA.
The consortium SMED includes Statistics Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Swedish Meteorological and
Hydrological Institute, involving more than 80 experts and scientists. The aim is to support
the Swedish EPA and Swedish Agency for Marine and Water management in the process of
collecting, calculating and compiling data for Sweden to fulfil its international and national
reporting obligations for environmental statistics (SMED, 2016).
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
A lot of work has been done by SMED besides the international reporting to Eurostat. SMED
has e.g. produced innovative data on national food waste. The purpose of the work is to have
reliable, relevant and well communicated data adapted to different user needs.
1.3 Communication plan
A carefully prepared communication was planned to present new data on food waste the
results via different dissemination channels and tools, for example press releases, technical
reports, article in SCB paper “Välfärd” and webpages. Infographics was used in digital and
printed media, showing the results in kg per person, as a way to visualize data and increase
understanding. By adapting the communication to different users, partners that work with
food waste, such as Swedish EPA, are seen as leaders for driving innovation and progress in
the field of food waste.
2.
Results
The results from different surveys have been shown in different types of media. These
include reports, press releases, web pages and infographics.
2.1 Reports
Food waste volumes in Sweden
A report was written that summarize five earlier reports on food waste in a legible format.
The report includes total waste volumes in Sweden, definition of food waste, different sectors
which generate food waste and what the Swedish EPA and other are doing regarding food
waste statistics. The report is available in Swedish and English (Swedish EPA, 2014a, b). The
report in the English version has been downloaded four times and the Swedish version 52
times (in March 2016). For the Swedish version it is one of the most downloaded reports at
the Swedish EPA.
Food and drink disposed to the drain
SMED has conducted several studies to quantify solid food waste in Sweden on behalf of
Swedish EPA. Different methods have been used for the production of statistics, for example
waste composition analysis, environmental reports, surveys and interviews. Food and drink
disposed to the drain had not been included in studies before, neither from households nor
from other sectors. Therefore, it had been unknown how large quantities of food and drink
that take this route.
The aim of this study was to quantify food and drink waste disposed to the drain in Sweden
in a year, in total and per person. Additional goals were to find out the frequency of different
food and drink types thrown away, reasons for disposal and the differences in quantities
between different types of households. A paper questionnaire for households was developed
and sent out to a random sample of 2050 people in Sweden, which would record the waste
from their households. The households measured and recorded quantities of edible and
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
drinkable food waste they disposed to the drain during four days. The survey contained
instructions for respondents on how to fill in the survey. There were seven fixed categories of
food and drink; dairy, coffee/tea, other beverages, sweet (ice-cream, smoothie etc.), sauce
and soup, other liquid food waste and solid food waste. The respondents also recorded the
reason they disposed food and drink down the drain.
Results show that around 224 000 tonnes of food and drink is disposed down the drain in a
year. This accounted to about 26 kg/person in a year or 0.5 kg a week. Results are presented
in a report (Swedish EPA, 2014c). When comparing quantities of food and drink disposed to
the drain with quantities through municipal solid waste collection (incineration and
biological treatment) it shows that approximately 23 percent of the total quantity food and
drink waste are disposed by households via drains. In food waste through solid waste
collection is both unnecessary and unavoidable food waste included. The report had been
downloaded 40 times in March 2016.
Other technical reports
There are also other technical reports about food waste which is more for experts. One of the
first reports were one which tried to estimate amounts of food waste generated in different
parts of the value chain, from agriculture to households (SMED, 2011). There is one report
(SMED, 2014) which calculates how Sweden has reached according to the goal that “By 2018
at least 50 percent of food waste from households, institutional kitchens, shops and restaurants must
be sorted and treated biologically so that plant nutrients are utilized, with at least 40 percent being
treated so that the energy is also utilized”.
2.2 Press releases
There have been several press releases when new data or reports are available. It is Swedish
EPA which has published the press releases. The most recent is from December 2015 when
new data on food waste for 2014 was available (Swedish EPA, 2015a). This press release has
27 unique visits (29 March 2016). When new data about food and drinks down the drain was
released there was a collaborative work between Swedish EPA and National Food Agency
and the press release was given at the same day from both agencies (Swedish EPA 2014d,
National Food Agency, 2014). This was strategically done after summer vacations (20 August
2014) when more people were back in office. At the Swedish EPA this press release had 42
unique visits (29 March 2016). These are just two examples. Press releases are an effective
way to spread new data.
2.3 Web pages
The Swedish EPA has two specific sites at their webpage where there is information about
food waste (Swedish EPA, 2016a, b). Both facts and links to more detailed information are
presented at their webpage. One of the pages shows the Swedish goal which has been
mentioned above. The other page shows food waste and the fact that food waste influences
both the environment and the economy. Swedish EPA is the responsible agency for waste in
Sweden and therefore all information on food waste can be found on their webpage. In the
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
case of food waste, it is more likely that users look for information at the Swedish EPA than
at Statistics Sweden.
2.4 Articles
From the data which retrieved, an article was written about food waste in a SCB paper called
“Välfärd”. This is a way to show data in another form and to find other users of data. While
the articles are written, a lot of work and effort is needed to present the data in an attractive
way with infographics, see examples below.
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
2.5 Infographics at Facebook posts
Infographics are used at Statistics Sweden in publications and also at Facebook. They were
originally in Swedish, but have for this paper been translated to English. The term “reached”
below refers to the number of people which have seen the post at Facebook. It means that it
has been shown in someone’s feed. The number represents the reached amount of persons
after 365 days after it was posted and includes views both in mobile phones and computers.
This infographic was posted at Facebook in 28 june 2015 and reached about 6100 persons. It
was “liked”, commented and shared by 103 persons.
This infographic was posted at Facebook in 28 nov 2015 and reached about 3100 persons. It
was “liked”, commented and shared by 113 persons.
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
Also, this infographic was also posted at Facebook in 26 nov 2015 2015 and reached about
5600 persons. It was “liked”, commented and shared by 208.
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
2.6 Response from media
There has been a large response in media for this new data. There are of course several
explanations for this the influence by adapted communications as shown above has not been
measured. However we believe that it absolutely has had an effect.
3.
Communication is part of the work
In Sweden, there are several statistical responsible authorities. As part of the responsibility,
authorities are obliged to spread statistical information to the public. To be able to fulfil the
demands as a statistical responsible authority, several communication types are necessary.
Swedish EPA and SCB, among many other Swedish authorities, have newly signed the
Strategy for Environmental Data Management (Swedish EPA, 2015b). The strategy vision
reads: Well managed environmental data is of significant benefit and makes a difference for
the environment. Some of the guidelines and recommendations are:
-
Make environmental data well-known
Make environmental data easy to find
Make environmental data directly accessible in forms that are requested
Ensure that environmental data is well described and easy to understand
Make environmental data available, as quickly, as possible
Eurostat has a Code of Practice for statistical production (Eurostat, 2016; Eurostat, 2011)
which also stress the need for communication. In Principle 10 “Cost effectiveness” it is
stressed that: “…communications technology is being optimized for data collection,
processing and dissemination.” Further in Principle 15 it is stated that “Dissemination
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
services use modern information and communication technology and, if appropriate,
traditional hard copy”.
The communication of food waste in Sweden is all in line with the guidelines and
recommendations. We beleive that the new data on food waste is well-known, easy to find,
accessible in different formats and well described for different types of end users. The
statistics is also published and available very shortly after Swedish EPA receives the result
reports, which other communication formats are based on.
4.
Conclusion
Communication is an important part of producing and spreading reliable data. It is not
enough with data; communication has to be a given part of statistical projects. This is in
accordance with the newly adopted Strategy for Environmental Data Handling and the Code
of Practice for statistical production.
Collaboration between producers and customers drives innovation and progress of
communication formats.
Extensive different communication activities increase the impact in media and enhance the
spreading of results to different groups. Different types of communications have been used
to communication statistics on food waste with a very good result.
Presentations in different media improve the dialogue with different end users. Swedish EPA
experience that they have reached a larger target population than normal due to these
extensive communications efforts with technical reports, readable reports, press-releases,
articles and infographics which have been used on Facebook and in other articles. The
Swedish EPA experiences an improved dialogue with different end users, mostly thanks to
different communication materials. In the long term, the national goal on reducing food
waste and to collect and handle the food waste which occurs is then easier to fulfil.
5.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the communication department at SCB for all the
infographics!
Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]
6.
References [Harvard reference style]
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Statistics Sweden | scb.se/nsm2016 | [email protected]