CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 Rationale

Food waste is a global issue that aggravates resource inefficiencies, environmental

degradation, economic loss, and social inequalities, compromises our food systems’

sustainability (Ruxandra et al., 2024). Food waste refers to the edible portions of food

discarded or lost at different supply chain stages, from harvesting to processing,

distribution, and consumption. This wastage can occur due to inadequate storage

facilities, transportation issues, suboptimal processing methods, and consumer

behaviour (Dilucia, 2020). The Philippine’s food industries produce significant amounts

of waste and by-products, mostly from fruits and vegetables (Torres et al., 2018).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2019) global food loss and waste

are continuously rising, with an estimated ₱400 billion units of food wasted annually, the

governments recognize its seriousness and advocate for strategic measures to combat

food waste (Brennan et al., 2021). Recently, the country experienced 20% post-harvest

losses, specifically staple crops like rice, bananas, cabbage, calamansi, eggplant,

mangoes, sweet potato, and tomato (Barrion et al., 2023).

According to a report by Philippine Graphic (2023), problems in the flow of supply and

demand of certain products in the Philippines are such that the interrelationship between

low storage capacities, inadequate refrigeration infrastructures, and less developed

transport facilities greatly limits the availability and accessibility of most goods,

especially perishable ones. The above logistical constraints not only increase the levels
of waste and reduce the shelf life of products but also sway consumer preference since

certain items are less liked by consumers because of fears over their quality and

freshness. For instance, perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables often

experience spoilage while in transportation, owing to inadequate refrigeration. This leads

to low consumer demand for such food products, especially in rural areas with poor

modern storage and transportation structures.

Although existing studies have made valuable contributions to understanding and

mitigating food loss and waste, a noticeable gap persists in the literature. Some

research mainly focused on addressing crop losses associated with pests, climate

change, and technical aspects (Savari et al., 2019; Schudel et al., 2023; Sultan et al.,

2019) or were specifically concerned by food loss and waste measurements (Corrado et

al., Citation2019; Hoehn et al., 2023). In particular, some studies placed emphasis on

farmers behavior pertaining to food waste. These relate to environmental impacts in that

landfill waste emissions contribute towards greenhouse gases and diverted food,

through alternative supply chains.

Bajo (2024) stated an estimation around 30% of all vegetables produced in the

Philippines get discarded or become wastage due to inefficient logistics. This research

study aims to find an innovative utilization of food waste in the production of

biodegradable packaging materials, with a more specific focus on the ecological

sustainability of the approach. Converting decomposed agricultural products into films

and coatings would adequately cover the best ways to address the critical problems

associated with organic waste disposal, like how food wastes could be effectively

handled. Recent studies on the recycling of biopolymers like polysaccharides and

proteins from rotting fruits and vegetables may contribute to the development of

sustainable packaging. The development makes it possible to significantly decrease the

environmental footprint linked with traditional plastic packaging and even can be

implemented in the framework of a circular economy (Ali et al. 2024; Kadzińska et al.,

2019). Soykeabkaew et al. (2019) stated that these special packaging materials will be

combined with bioactive compounds, such as vitamins and polyphenols, to provide

enhanced functionality and shelf life. Besides, this study would contribute to new

innovative approaches in the management of packaging waste as far as by-products

from agriculture are concerned. They will be changed into resources meant for utility

through a procedure which is sustainable and friendly to the environment (Farook et

al.,2024; Mopera 2020).

Ali, M. Q., Ahmad, N., Azhar, M. A., Munaim, M. S. A., Hussain, A., & Mahdi, A. A.

(2024).

An overview: exploring the potential of fruit and vegetable waste and by-products

in food biodegradable packaging. Discover Food.

Kadzińska, J., Janowicz, M., Kalisz, S., Bry, J., & Lenart, A. (2019). An overview of fruit
and vegetable edible packaging materials. Packaging Technology and Science.

Soykeabkaew, N., Rattanawongkun, P., Kunfong, N., Tawichai, N., & Intatha, U. (2019).
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Farook, S. A., Shams, R., & Dash, K. K. (2024). Edible packaging as sustainable
alternative to synthetic plastic: a comprehensive review. Environmental Science
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Mopera, L. (2020). Food Loss in the Food Value Chain: The Philippine Agriculture
Scenario. Journal of Food Science and Technology.

Ahmadi, A., Ahmadi, P., Sani, M. A., Ehsani, A., & Ghanbarzadeh, B. (2021). Functional

Biocompatible nanocomposite films consisting of selenium and zinc oxide

nanoparticles embedded in gelatin/cellulose nanofiber matrices. International

Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 175, 87–

97. [Link]
 Barrion, A. S. A., Calayag, J. A. S., Nguyen-Orca, M. F. R., & Melo-Rijik, M. N.

(2023). Food Loss and Waste in the Philippines: A Literature Review.

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Bajo, A. F. (2024, January 16). DA: 30% of PH produce wasted due to poor logistics.

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(2021). The role of

packaging in fighting food waste: A systematised review of consumer perceptions

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packaging. Journal of Cleaner Production, 281, 125276.

Dilucia, F., Lacivita, V., Conte, A., & Del Nobile, M. A. (2020). Sustainable use of fruit and

vegetable by-
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English A. Food and Agriculture Organization. The State of Food and Agriculture. 2019,

Moving Forward on

Food Loss and Waste Reduction.

Rikhter, P., Dinc, I., Zhang, Y., Jiang, T., Miyashiro, B., Walsh, S., Wang, R., Dinh, Y., &

Suh, S. (2022). Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Plastics: A Review. National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

[Link]

Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag, Dacinia Crina Petrescu, Iulia Ajtai, Carmen Andreea

Roba, Oana Adriana Gica, Lucian Cuibus, Ancuta Tenter, Valentin Toader, Adina Letitia

Negrusa & Nicoleta Bican-Brișan (2024) Causes and solutions for fruit and vegetable

waste: a participatory approach with Romanian farmers for sustainable agriculture,

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10.1080/14735903.2024.2329391

Savari, S., Willocquet, L., Pethybridge, S. J., Esker, P., McRoberts, N., & Nelson, A.

(2019). The global burden of pathogens and pests on major food crops. Nature Ecology

& Evolution, 430–439. [Link]

Schudel, S., Shoji, K., Shrivastava, C., Onwude, D., & Defraeye, T. (2023). Solution

roadmap to reduce food loss along your postharvest supply chain from farm to
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[Link]

Sultan, B., Defrance, D., & Iizumi, T. (2019). Evidence of crop production losses in West

Africa due to historical global warming in two crop models. Scientific Reports, 9(1),

12834. [Link]

Corrado, S., Caldeira, C., Eriksson, M., Hanssen, O. J., Hauser, H. E., van Holsteijn, F.,

Liu, G., Östergren, K., Parry, A., Secondi, L., & Stenmarck, Å. (2019). Food waste

accounting methodologies: Challenges, opportunities, and further advancements. Global

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Hoehn, D., Vázquez-Rowe, I., Kahhat, R., Margallo, M., Laso, J., Fernández-Ríos, A.,

Ruiz-Salmón, I., & Aldaco, R. (2023). A critical review on food loss and waste

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Fortunately, recent research have released proactive approach in improving food waste

utilization regarding environmental sustainability (Sani et al., 2023)