Evaluating the environmental impact of agri-food waste reduction: A bibliographic analysis and conceptual framework

Increasing concerns about the environmental impact of agri-food waste (AFW) have strengthened the need to assess the environmental performance of AFW reduction. Yet comprehensive literature reviews in this area remain scant. This paper presents a review of the research using a bibliographic analysis. Based on a sample of 171 research articles, we proposed a conceptual framework for evaluating the environmental impact of AFW reduction. The contribution of this review is threefold. First, a bibliographic analysis and semi-structured interviews are utilized to systematically review relevant literature and to propose a conceptual framework, which draws on existing research to determine ways of assessing the environmental impacts of AFW reduction. Second, our identification of four overarching research themes with respect to studies on the environmental impacts of AFW reduction offers fresh insights into AFW studies. Third, our conceptual model is refined following the semi-structured interviews we conduct, which serves to reveal the practical implications of our findings and research opportunities for the future. •171 articles are included in this literature review.•Bibliometric analysis is adopted to identify four research themes.•Preliminary conceptual framework is constructed based on the literature review.•30 semi-structured interviews are conducted to refine the conceptual framework.