Household food waste management problems in latvia

It is widely recognized by scholars and experts on international and European Union (EU) level that the waste management and waste reduction are important resource. Turning waste into a resource is an essential part of resource efficiency and boosts a circular economy. Food waste is a serious global issue, which linked to environmental, economic and social impacts. In EU wide accepted is the new paradigm circular economy, in which main accent is given on prevention and significant reduction of waste. The bio-waste, particularly food waste, is recognised as a resource, which should be effectively re-used and recycled. The purpose of research presented in this paper and the consequent first task is to evaluate the current situation of municipal (bio waste) management in Latvia and to identify the main constraints for the achieving waste related targets, which have set on global and EU level. Taking into account that the households besides the food services and retail are significant generators of the food waste in the developed countries, the second task has been set - to evaluate the Latvian households’ attitudes and behaviour regarding to the food waste (bio-waste). For solving the second task the questionnaire survey was performed and the data from a survey of nationally representative households as the respondents was used.