Routines vs. habits: A cognitive script perspective on chefs’ food waste behaviour

The hospitality sector accounts for 28% of global food waste, but the psychological determinants of chefs' food waste behaviour remain under-researched. This study adopts cognitive script theory to explore how automated cognitive blueprints of chefs determine their food waste management practices. Interviews with chefs in Kyrgyzstan (n = 25) reveal that food waste is rarely a calculated choice but the result of deeply embedded scripts. The findings highlight a critical ‘design flaw’ in traditional occupational scripts of chefs, which historically prioritise speed and aesthetics over environmental sustainability. While operational protocols can enable food waste mitigation, organisational scripts impede it. Theoretically, the study distinguishes between conscious, goal-directed routines that protect kitchens against food waste, and unconscious, cue-directed habits that generate it. Practically, the study proposes interventions to counteract the food waste generating scripts, emphasising the systemic disruption of habits and structural re-design of kitchen workflows and corporate policies over traditional environmental education.