Plastic generation exacerbates the challenge of solid waste management. Moreover, plastics emit substantial amounts of microplastics, which infiltrate the environment and food chain, posing significant environmental risks. Compounded by their production from fossil fuels, such as crude oil and natural gas, plastics present a formidable environmental concern. As a result, bioplastics are an attractive alternative to fossil-based plastics since they use renewable energy sources, aim to alleviate worries about reliance on fossil fuels, and are biodegradable, further enhancing their environmental appeal. Along similar lines, the utilization of food waste to produce bioplastics is attracting international interest. The current study presents the results of a life cycle assessment conducted on bioplastic production from food waste, carried out in a pilot-scale reactor located in Greece. The objective was to ascertain the comparative sustainability of recovering food waste for bioplastic production versus utilizing cultivable raw materials. To this end, an equivalent amount of polylactic acid was produced from corn. The findings revealed a reduction in climate change, eutrophication, and ecotoxicity as a result of the study process. Despite these environmental benefits, the study highlighted that energy consumption throughout the process poses a significant environmental burden. This aspect calls for attention and modification to enhance the entire sustainability of the process.

It is estimated that European households are responsible for 55% of food waste generation. Key factors contributing to household food waste generation include food spoilage, confusion over expiration dates, overbuying, and inadequate shopping planning. Thus, food waste prevention at the household level depends heavily on food supplies monitoring and management. To this end, during the last decade, several consumer-oriented digital tools have been designed and launched. A literature review showed that currently accessible digital tools are scarce and cover a narrow range of functionalities. Here, we address these issues by designing and launching a decision support tool implemented in a smart mobile phone application (app), the FoodSaveShare Mobile App. The application development followed a traditional client–server architecture using state-of-the-art software and hardware technologies. Additionally, a survey of 340 individuals was conducted to better understand end-user motivation for and barriers against adopting this and similar apps. The developed application combines user-provided data with a retailer loyalty program to leverage the integrated features for tracking shopping activities. The app features a household shopping list populated by product barcode scanning and manual entry. Based on food and packaging type, food products are assigned approximate expiration dates to issue product expiration reminders. For products about to expire, suggestions for their utilization are provided, drawing from a list of over 7000 recipes. Additional functionality allows users to identify products that have either been consumed in time or that need to be discarded. Analytical tools, such as past purchase and resources discarded versus resources saved statistics, offer comprehensive insight and encourage improved shopping and consumption practices. The FoodSaveShare App was launched during the A2UFood Project, which allowed an organised campaign for its use. The app was tested under real customer data and conditions, and selected features have been adopted by the largest supermarket chain on the Island of Crete, Greece. The potential end-user survey results suggest that, provided personal data use issues are addressed, such apps can have a significant impact on reducing household food waste. Future work will focus on analysing the datasets produced by the application to assess its impact on household food waste management.