Alongside the development of the circular economy and sustainable food supply chains (FSCs), research on food loss and waste (FLW) reduction and prevention has drawn much attention from academia, practitioners, and governments. The significance of FLW has been highlighted in the literature due to its impact on society, economy, and the environment. We propose a conceptual framework to systematically examine FLW issues within FSCs in the field of operations management (OM). We discuss various types and distribution modes of FSCs where FLW occurs, definitions of FLW, the impacts of FLW, and measures to reduce FLW in the OM field. We further introduce the methodologies that have been applied in existing FLW studies. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it proposes a conceptual framework to identify FLW problems within FSCs. Second, it helps to comprehensively understand FLW occurrence and thus stimulate research focusing on FLW from different perspectives. Third, it motivates researchers to discuss FLW issues by applying different methodologies.

Purpose: Food waste (FW) reduction, of which household wastage comprises a large fraction, has an important role in promoting the circular economy (CE). This study investigates how certain consumer traits impact household FW, particularly in the face of external shocks.Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a qualitative and longitudinal study, spanning three periods in New Zealand. A preliminary model is constructed from the outcomes of a survey with 178 participants. Then, the authors carried out 29 semi-structured interviews to refine the preliminary model and adapt it to the analysis of household waste behavior.Findings: Different segments of consumers have distinct response patterns in successive lockdowns, and these patterns impact household FW reduction and food supply chain (FSC) management. The key findings include (1) for government, quick responses to quash unhelpful rumors help to reduce public concerns around FSC interruption; (2) for retailers, the pandemic has hastened the growth of online shopping; being able to expand the distribution channel in a short time is a critical issue; and (3) for consumers, the experience of lockdown has different impacts on different groups of consumers. This variation of experience may either enhance or exacerbate FW in households.Originality/value: This paper complements the existing literature on the FSC and contributes to household FW and CE literature by providing a framework that integrates external impacts, consumer segmentation to reflect on waste management, and the possible applications of the proposed framework.

Eco-efficiency in cultivated land use is crucial for ensuring food security and promoting sustainable agriculture amidst the challenges posed by urbanization and climate change. Distinct from much of the existing literature, this paper adopts a super-efficiency EBM model that integrates both radial and non-radial perspectives to estimate the eco-efficiency of cultivated land use and identify sources of inefficiency under carbon emission constraints, focusing on 180 prefecture-level cities in China’s major grain-producing regions. Additionally, spatial kernel density estimation is applied to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics and long-term trends in eco-efficiency, while the Dagum Gini coefficient is used to examine the causes of spatiotemporal disparities. The key findings include (1) The Songhua River Basin shows significantly higher eco-efficiency (mean: 0.718) than the Yellow River (mean: 0.559) and Yangtze River Basins (mean: 0.587), with distinct evolutionary patterns; (2) Long-term evolution reflects a bipolar pattern with spatial agglomeration disparities; (3) Positive spatial spillover effects are evident in regions with efficiency levels between 0.4 and 0.9, with inter-regional differences and super-variable density as significant spatial variation sources. This study reveals a “long-term increase - short-term decline” trend in ecological efficiency, highlighting carbon emissions as the primary limiting factor, although this constraint is gradually diminishing.

Trade-in strategy is a common mode of promotion for firms taking part in the circular economy because it encourages consumers to buy remanufactured products, via a “trade-old-for-remanufactured” framework. This paper studies trade-in strategy by developing game models for a closed-loop supply chain with one manufacturer and two independent remanufacturers. The former is responsible for producing and selling new products and the latter two compete with each other for the collection of used products and the sales of remanufactured products. Unlike the extant literature, this paper focuses on the competition between two independent remanufacturers (IRs) and studies on how holder segment (whether or not to own used products) and competition affects the trade-in strategy. It finds that the proportion of holders on the remanufactured product prices of the IR1 and IR2 have a negative correlation. Conversely, the impact of the proportion of holders on the IR1’s and IR2’s demands (and on their profits) is the opposite. The trade-in strategy generates more benefits for the IR1 only when the proportion of holders is sufficiently high. In addition, when consumers experience a greater difference in durability between remanufactured products and original new products, trade-in strategy is more welcomed by consumers, which in turn, generates more benefits for the IR1.