From surplus to sustainability: The role of legislation in reducing climate impact from Swedish bread waste

Food waste infers considerable environmental, social, and economic consequences. While previous research has focused on interventions at the supplier-retailer interface to reduce surplus, this paper explores the reduction potential in applying legal instruments and evaluates the climate benefits of enforcing four different policy measures: 1) Prohibiting Unfair Trading Practices; 2) Advancing Redistribution of Surplus; 3) Enforcing Best Available Technology; and 4) Legally binding reduction targets. Applied to the case study of bread in Sweden, the results clearly show that, through the enforcement of binding regulations or market-based mechanisms, surplus could be reduced by 6–50 %, while also lowering climate impact with up to 18 % compared to the current system. The results illustrate how Sweden can optimize its bread supply chain through regulatory and market-based strategies, with applicability on an international scale. These findings also highlight the potential in combining legislation and economic incentives to optimize the conventional bread supply chain, for reduced waste and improved surplus management. By demonstrating the benefits of enforcing different legislations and policy measures, the results can be used to further develop and enforce targeted policy recommendations and legislations for reduced food waste. While the scenarios explored are specific to the bread supply chain, the insights gained are applicable to other perishable food sectors facing similar waste management challenges.