Managing food waste through behavioral levers: A system dynamics approach for Hong Kong

Abstract Food waste (FW) poses a severe threat to global food security. One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is for global communities to decrease per capita FW by half at the retail and consumer levels by 2030. Hong Kong (HK) has made corresponding efforts, but the effect has not been visible. This study contributes to the ongoing efforts to reduce FW in HK by exploring effective strategies. System Dynamics (SD) can model complex, dynamic systems with feedback loops. Using an SD model, we explore how FW and human behavior interact and identify major drivers and feedback mechanisms in HK FW management (FWM) practices. Subsequently, we simulated scenarios on population growth, economic awareness of FW recycling, and facility efficiency. Without new policies or action plans, FW is projected to grow steadily over the modeled period. We found that raising economic awareness (penalties and incentives) is the optimal solution, reducing daily per capita FW to 0.343 kg. In contrast, the assumed population growth scenario is the most severe, with per-capita waste could climb to 0.439 kg/day by 2040. Contrary to many studies that predominantly focused on improving the efficiency of recycling facilities, we emphasized changing people’s awareness through economic means such as charging and incentives being the most useful means of reducing FW. These approaches can be valuable for informing FWM in other cities and assisting communities in addressing comparable issues.