Singapore to conduct survey to study food wastage

As part of its efforts to curb the growing amount of food waste in Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will undertake a survey to study how Singaporeans shop for, eat, cook and dispose of their food.

The survey will be conducted by a working group which was formed in 2012 by the Inter-Ministry Committee on food security.

Its aim will be to capture both qualitative and quantitative data on the behaviour of consumers, including shopping, eating, cooking and catering habits which might lead to possible wastage. The study will also look into the types of food being wasted and the reasons behind it.

Close to 1,000 people will be a part of the survey, which is expected to be completed by next month. It will also aim at identifying consumers’ knowledge and attitudes towards food wastage.

Singapore dumped around 796,000 tonnes of food waste in 2013, an increase of 13.2% from 703,200 tonnes in 2012. Food wastage accounted for 10% of the total wastage in Singapore last year.

In the tender documents that the NEA released, it said that the largest amount of food waste was generated from the manufacturing, retail and consumer segments.

"At the retail and consumer segments, the working group recognises that operational characteristics of retail and consumers could be influenced by consumer behaviour," the tender said.

The food wastage reduction working group is jointly chaired by the NEA and AVA and includes representatives from agencies like the Economic Development Board and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

Based on the findings of the survey, the contractor who will be conducting the survey will need to propose recommendations to reduce wastage.