Food waste management strategies: A comparative study of Singapore and Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Food waste is one of the global issues that continues to face many challenges in its resolution. Food waste causes losses in various aspects. The environmental and economic losses caused by food waste are related to the loss of water and energy, while the social losses are associated with food security. Based on available data, Southeast Asia is among the five largest contributors of food waste in the world; therefore, this article aims to compare food waste management strategies in Singapore as a developed country and Indonesia as a developing country based on regulatory approaches and implementation strategies. Methods: The method used in this study is a comparative descriptive study using secondary data derived from journal articles, reports, and country guidelines on food waste. Findings: The comparison results show that Singapore and Indonesia have similar strategies in certain aspects, despite differences in the implementation and approaches to addressing food waste. Singapore has a more established food waste management system because they have effective synergy between policies, infrastructure, and cross-sector collaboration. In contrast, Indonesia still requires significant improvements, as it continues to grapple with issues regarding priorities, regulations, infrastructure, and sectoral silos. Conclusion: Indonesia can learn from Singapore’s approach to establishing guidelines as an educational effort and optimizing the use of technology for food waste recycling. In the longer term, Indonesia could consider adopting a collaborative governance approach incorporating the Water-Energy-Food nexus, alongside food waste valorization strategies, drawing on relevant practices implemented in Singapore. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study highlights the comparative differences in food waste management strategies between Singapore and Indonesia and emphasizes the potential role of guidelines and technology-based approaches for future food waste prevention in Indonesia.