Food waste in rural households support for local biogas production in Lubelskie Voivodship (Poland)

The paper examines self-reported food waste volume generated by a sample of rural households in Lubelskie Voivodship in Poland accounting for four different categories of food waste. Food waste does occur and some of it is unavoidable leading to the question how to manage it. This study identifies factors responsible for the volume of self-reported food waste by category, but also identifies factors influencing the decision to collect food waste in household for the purpose of local biogas production. Tobit technique is applied to identify factors, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of consumers and their households that influence the percentage of wasted food by type. A separate decision equation identifies supporting or limiting factors influencing the decision to sort food waste for biogas production. Education, gender, age, household size, and employment status have been identified as relevant characteristics determining the volume of wasted food and the decision to support using food waste for biogas generation.