Exploring Greek Citizens’ Circular Thinking on Food Waste Recycling in a Circular Economy—A Survey-Based Investigation

Abstract

Food waste is one of the biggest global challenges. Thinking and acting for closed-loop cycles for energy and resources recovery is pivotal for meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG 12.3) by 2030. In this paper, the multifaceted problem of food waste and Greece’s national policy of circular economy is briefly given. Greece produces the highest annual per capita food waste output (142 kg) in Europe, indicating that the problem is rather large for the country. The solution to the problem inextricably linked to the implementation of the food waste hierarchy, was investigated through a survey integrating the possibility of energy recovery. The tailored questionnaire sent via e-mails and social media with the goal of identifying a snapshot of Greek citizens’ conceptions and practices regarding the management of their household food waste, and their familiarity with circular economy concepts. Results have shown that most respondents are aware of the problem’s existence, however, without considering it as important, according to 1565 responses gathered and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 program. Greek individuals are eager to recycle their food waste without expecting anything in return, but the majority seek recommendations on how to do it.

Keywords

• circular economy
• food waste
• Greece
• energy recovery
• questionnaire
• resources recovery