Introduction: A third of food produced for human consumption is discarded. Food waste generation is controversial from various aspects (environmental, economic and social). Most of the food waste is generated in households; however, measuring these amounts is rather difficult because of different ways of handling waste. Some food waste from households ends within the public waste treatment system and some outside this system (home composting system, sewage system, as animal feed, etc.). There is still no consistent international methodology on measuring food waste. Purpose: The purpose of the master's thesis is to obtain data on food waste generation and treatment in households and based on that determine the share of food waste (edible and inedible part) that ends up outside the public waste treatment system, determine the share of edible and inedible part of food waste, determine the composition of food waste by type of food, and test the selected survey method. Methods: The experimental method was used and the pilot survey was carried out. Within the latter the data were obtained from 122 randomly selected households with a self-survey method (filling in a kitchen diary). On the basis of the questionnaire, for seven consecutive days, households had to weigh their food waste and define the method of treatment. Results: Households included in the survey disposed 39.9% of food waste outside the public waste treatment system. The edible part of generated food waste accounted for 32.4% and the inedible part for 67.6% of total food waste. Within the edible part of food waste, the type of food which ended as food waste was primarily vegetables (26.9% of food waste) and bread (15.0%), while within the inedible part that was mostly peels and shells of fruit (35.2%) and vegetables (31.5%). The survey method (filling in a kitchen diary) was evaluated by households as simple and fast. Discussion and conclusion: The aim of the pilot survey was to supplement the existing SURS methodology on monitoring the amount of food waste in households with the help of data on the amount and type of food waste obtained directly from original producers. Added value of the Master’s Thesis is the analysis of the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of surveyed households on food waste generation and treatment. The quantitative evaluation of food waste is essential for developing effective policies on preventing food waste generation and treatment and for evaluating the effectiveness of achieving goals of food waste prevention and decreasing its amounts.
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