Diverting Food Waste From Landfill in Exemplar Hospital Foodservices: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The US Environmental Protection Agency Food Recovery Hierarchy suggests methods for diverting food waste from landfill. Knowledge of how hospital foodservices implement food waste management strategies could help modernize food waste practices.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore hospital staff members' experiences of implementing a food waste management strategy to divert food waste from landfill in their hospital foodservice, including the journey, challenges, and facilitators of this practice change.
Design: A qualitative study was conducted in 2022-2023 using semi-structured interviews.
Participants/setting: Eighteen participants were staff members with knowledge of the food waste management strategy from 14 exemplar hospitals in United States, Spain, Scotland, and Australia using strategies to divert food waste from landfill within the last 10 years.
Analyses Performed: Mapping and thematic analysis were undertaken to code and identify themes from the interviews that described staff members' experiences of the journey to implement the strategy.
Results: Six hospitals donated food, 1 transferred food waste for animal feed, 4 used an industrial solution, and 3 sent food waste for composting. A common journey pathway for successful implementation was identified from participants' experiences. It features the following 6 phases: idea, preparation, roll out, maintenance, established practice, and evolution. Facilitators included legislation, enthusiastic staff members, executive support, and "luck." Challenges were smells, occasions when food waste was not collected, equipment breakage, and funding depletion.
Conclusions: This study identified a common journey pathway for implementing a food waste management strategy in hospital foodservices that can be used to anticipate and prepare for the steps in the implementation process.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)