Comparing the Environmental Impacts of Representative Food Donation and Redistribution Strategies

Assessing the environmental impacts of food donation systems is necessary to support food donation policy and management. Few life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have investigated the environmental impacts of food donation systems. This comparative LCA study analyzed the environmental impacts of eight different donation scenarios reflecting diverse supply chain configurations and operational management options, using 391.8 kg of redistributed food over two weeks as the functional unit. Each of the eight scenarios presented net environmental benefits for all five life cycle environmental impact categories: 132~233 kg CO₂-eq for global warming potential, 2.30~5.24 kg SO₂-eq for acidification potential, 1.13~2.04 kg N-eq for eutrophication potential, 1791~3140 MJ for cumulative energy demand, and 3.7 × 10⁷~5.8 × 10⁷ m³ for water resource depletion. The highest magnitudes of environmental benefits were achieved when intermediary organizations collected and gleaned the surplus food from donors and then transported it to food pantries (the eighth scenario). Improving the quality of donated food, augmenting the sorting capacities of emergency organizations, and shortening transportation distances could increase the environmental benefits of food donation systems. The environmental impact intensities of production and waste management choices for food waste generated during the redistribution of the surplus food ranked as the top influential factors for the five environmental impacts. Rescuing surplus food from donors who landfilled the wasted food tended to yield larger environmental benefits than from donors who composted it. Overall, this study finds that improving donation quality and increasing the capacities of emergency food organizations are crucial for maximizing the environmental benefits of the fresh produce donation system.