Table 7.

Comparison of quantitative estimates for household food waste (kg/household) between five studies.

country	source	methodology	food waste estimate kg per household per year	definition of household food waste				strengths/weaknesses
				non-household municipal waste included?	down drain/home composting/fed to pets included?	edible food waste included?	inedible food waste included?
USA	Jones (2004)	food sector data combined with compositional analysis, archaeology of landfill sites	212 kg per household per year edible food waste	√	×	√	×	methodology not described in any detail
USA	USEPA (2009)	macro-level mass-flow modelling technique, industrial production data, compositional analysis, 1960–2008	154 kg household food waste (1970) to 233 kg (2004)	√	×	√	√	mass flow depends on assumed relationships between product types and waste, imports and exports to US economy difficult to account for
England	DEFRA (2010)	direct measurement of waste composition integrated with national arisings statistics	240 kg /household/year food waste discarded into municipal waste stream	√	×	√	√	compositional studies do not provide details of wastage of different food types
UK	WRAP (2009a)	waste compositional analysis studies and household diaries/surveys	270 kg/household/year edible food and drink waste	×	√	√	×	contains an array of different measurement types, complex to undertake, method supplies detail on causes and types of food waste
Turkey	Pekcan et al. (2006)	cross-sectional study of households in Ankara, Turkey, based on questionnaire	298 kg/household/year	×	×	√	√	limited sample and accuracy of recall questionnaire technique