Abstract

This study aims to assess the contribution of food donation to GHG (Greenhouse Gas) reduction to provide insights for sustainable business practices. We measure the effect of carbon emission reduction by avoiding the disposal of fresh and processed food donated through food banks and preventing additional fresh and processed food that would have been produced and grown without the donation. The analysis uses data on the quantity and donation value of 24,627 fresh and 733,222 processed food items donated by food banks in 2022. The result shows that the effect of carbon emission reduction through food bank donations of fresh food totaled 3,081 tons CO2- eq, and the impact of carbon emission reduction through those of processed food totaled 65,103 tons CO2-eq. As the socio-economic costs of food waste in Korea are increasing, redistributing surplus food products to the socially vulnerable is expected to become a representative alternative to reducing food waste.