The role of food waste hierarchy in addressing policy and research: A comparative analysis

Abstract The European Union is working towards reducing food waste by 30% by 2025. A pyramid of priorities to manage the food waste reduction is set by the Directive 2008/98/EC, where prevention is the first action to be implemented by the Member States. The objective of this paper is to identify the main trajectories followed so far by scientific research and two national laws against food waste, namely the Italian and the French laws. To do so, the two regulations are compared by analyzing and classifying each single measure according to the FUSIONS approach. Results are discussed with reference to the priorities expressed in the food waste pyramid. So far, it seems that the two national laws took a different direction, limiting the prevention activities to communication campaign addressed to final consumers and focusing on re-use and recovery especially at the final stages of the supply chain. Academic research shows a dominant focus on energy recovery and recycling.