Determinants of Household Food Waste and Packaging Reduction Behaviour in Nova Scotia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand household food and packaging waste reduction behaviour in Nova Scotia. Household food and packaging waste reduction behaviours for a sample of 750 Nova Scotia residents were evaluated. A first objective involved applying the theory of planned behaviour and structural equation modelling to evaluate how household financial concerns influence household food waste behaviour. A second objective investigated the effects of food packaging characteristics on household food packaging waste management. A third objective applied an ordinal logit model to investigate the effects food packaging characteristics on household food waste magnitude. The results indicated that although Nova Scotia households who reported difficulties affording food showed a greater intention to reduce food waste (b=0.128, p=0.002), they interestingly reported a higher percentage of food wasted than less challenged families. The probability of wasting more food is lower among respondents who consider transport integrity to be important, while those who consider convenience important were more likely to waste more, compared to those who consider these attributes to be not important. Lifestyle convenience of packaging (b=-0.190, p<0.001) negatively influence recycling intention, while appropriateness of package size reduced reuse intention (b=-0.067, p=0.043) but increased recycling intention (b=0.094, p=0.009).