Household Food Waste Behavior in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and Its Potential in the Circular Economy

Abstract

Food waste is a problem that has resulted in a variety of situations in which it is one of the primary causes of food insecurity. Changes in household behaviors, such as overbuying, are important drivers of food waste, particularly following the emergence of COVID-19. Studies on what drives household consumer engagement in various food-waste strategies have been limited. Thus, this paper aims to study the factors that lead to food-waste behavior at the household level in the Klang Valley area. Out of the 431 questionnaires distributed, 404 were useful, and the respondents for this study were from various ethnicities. A quantitative design was employed in this study, with descriptive and inference statistics derived from the questionnaire, which was distributed via Google Forms. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 26.0 and Smart PLS version 3.0, to test the reliability, validity, and hypotheses of this study. A significant relationship exists between food-waste behavior, namely food expenditure, and waste reuse, but food-waste behavior has no relationship with food choice. The study’s conclusions highlight the significance of understanding and planning one’s food-buying behaviors, to achieve benefits additional to simply lowering the number of those who are at risk of being hungry. The study also found that male respondents wasted more food than their female counterparts.