Household Food Waste Behavior in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and Its Potential in the Circular Economy

Food waste is a problem that has resulted in a variety of situations in which it is one of the primary causes of food insecurity. Changes in household behaviors, such as overbuying, are important drivers of food waste, particularly following the emergence of COVID-19. Studies on what drives househol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2023-06, Vol.15 (12), p.9431
Main Authors: Ariffin, Zailin Zainal, Anuar, Siti Norazlin, Mangadi, Noor Farhana, Yaakop, Azizul Yadi, Sakawi, Zaini, Jusoh, Sufian, Ibrahim, Mohd Adib
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Circular economy
Climate change
Consumers
Consumption
Cooperation
COVID-19
Expenditures
Food
Food security
Food supply
Food waste
Household wastes
Households
Hunger
Hypotheses
Planning
Purchasing
Qualitative research
Questionnaires
Shopping
Social sciences
Supply chains
Sustainable development
Valleys
Waste recycling
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Summary:Food waste is a problem that has resulted in a variety of situations in which it is one of the primary causes of food insecurity. Changes in household behaviors, such as overbuying, are important drivers of food waste, particularly following the emergence of COVID-19. Studies on what drives household consumer engagement in various food-waste strategies have been limited. Thus, this paper aims to study the factors that lead to food-waste behavior at the household level in the Klang Valley area. Out of the 431 questionnaires distributed, 404 were useful, and the respondents for this study were from various ethnicities. A quantitative design was employed in this study, with descriptive and inference statistics derived from the questionnaire, which was distributed via Google Forms. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 26.0 and Smart PLS version 3.0, to test the reliability, validity, and hypotheses of this study. A significant relationship exists between food-waste behavior, namely food expenditure, and waste reuse, but food-waste behavior has no relationship with food choice. The study’s conclusions highlight the significance of understanding and planning one’s food-buying behaviors, to achieve benefits additional to simply lowering the number of those who are at risk of being hungry. The study also found that male respondents wasted more food than their female counterparts.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su15129431