Assessing food waste management in the restaurant sector in the Republic of North Macedonia
Dushica Santa
, Zvezda Bogevska, Ivana Velinova, Sonja Srbinovska
Abstract: The problem of loss and food waste in the whole food chain is a real challenge for institutions and states and their policies. The food waste is a problem on several levels, from increasing poverty as an economic problem to a real environmental problem from an ethical point of view. This problem requires a fundamental solution in North Macedonia, where little attention is paid to food loss and waste management. This research aimed to understand the problem of food waste and the implications of this problem, as well as to see the possibilities for reducing food waste in restaurants in the country. An online questionnaire was conducted in the food service sector. The results of the research showed that there are drastic differences in the views on the problem of food waste. The food service sector has very few options available but still pays little attention to solving the problem. The actualization of the problem of food losses and waste must be addressed from the lowest to the highest level in both state institutions and the private sector and all those involved in the food supply chain. It is necessary to adopt legal solutions and acts following European legislation, conduct appropriate training for managers of catering facilities on the possibilities of managing food surplus and waste, and improve communication with the Food Bank.
Keywords: food waste; online survey; restaurants; waste management
Citation: Santa, D., Bogevska, Z., Velinova, I. & Srbinovska, S. (2026). Assessing food waste management in the restaurant sector in the Republic of North Macedonia. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(3), 486–493
| References: (click to open/close) | Aamir, M., Ahmad, H., Javaid, Q. & Hasan, S. M. (2018). Waste Not, Want Not: A Case Study on Food Waste in Restaurants of Lahore, Pakistan. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 24(5), 591 – 610. DOI: 10.1080/10454446.2018.1472695.
Bharucha, J. (2018). Tackling the challenges of reducing and managing food waste in Mumbai restaurants. British Food Journal, 120(3), 639 - 649. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2017-0324.
Bogevska, Z., Berjan, S., Capone, R., Debs, P., El Bilali, H., Bottalico, F. & Davitkovska, M. (2020). Household food wastage in North Macedonia. Agriculture and Forestry, 66(2), 125 - 135.
Bogevska, Z., Berjan, S., El Bilali, H., Sadegh Allahyari, M., Radosavac, A. & Davitkovska, M. (2022). Exploring food shopping, consumption and waste habits in North Macedonia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 82, Part A, 101150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101150.
European Environment Agency (EEA) (2023). Waste prevention country profile. North Macedonia. file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/MicrosoftEdgeDownloads/cf8c88fc-56cc-4122-9f84-2c353d759505/NORTH_MACEDONIA_waste_prevention_2023%20(1).pdf.
Filimonau, V. & Sulyok , J. (2021). ‘Bin it and forget it!’: The challenges of food waste management in restaurants of a mid-sized Hungarian city. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100759.
Filimonau, V., Fidan, H., Alexieva, I., Dragoev, S. & Marinova, D. D. (2019). Restaurant food waste and the determinants of its effective management in Bulgaria: An exploratory case study of restaurants in Plovdiv. Tourism Management Perspectives, 32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100577.
Filimonau, V., Todorova, E., Mzembe, A., Sauer, L. & Yankholmes, A. (2020). A comparative study of food waste management in full service restaurants of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Journal of Cleaner Production 258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120775.
Filimonau, V., Zhang, H. & Wang, L. (2020a). Food waste management in Shanghai full-service restaurants: A senior managers’ perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120975.
FUSIONS. (2016). Estimates of European food waste levels. European Commission (FP7), 2016. Retrieved from http://www.eu-fusions.org/phocadownload/Publications/Estimates%20of%20European%20food%20waste%20levels.pdf. (Accessed 4 February 2024). Hospitality and Food Service Sector. Oxon, UK.
Katsarova, I. (2016). Tackling Food Waste. The EU’s Contribution to a Global Issue. European Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing Paper. November 2016. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/593563/EPRS_BRI(2016)593563_EN.pdf.
Kretschmer, B., Smith, C., Watkins, E., Allen, B., Buckwell, A., Desbarats, J. & Kieve, D. (2013) Technology options for recycling agricultural, forestry and food wastes and residues for sustainable bioenergy and biomaterials. Report for the European Parliament, STOA, as part of the study ‘Technology Options for Feeding 10 Billion People’. IEEP: London. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/513513/IPOL-JOIN_ET(2013)513513_EN.pdf.
McAdams, B., Massow, M., Gallant, M. & Hayhoe, M. (2019). A cross industry evaluation of food waste in restaurants. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 22(5), 449 - 466. DOI: 10.1080/15378020.2019.1637220 DOI: 10.17707/AgricultForest.66.2.12.
Papargyropoulou, E., Lozano, R., Steinberger, J. K., Wright, N. & Ujang, Z. B. (2014). The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste. Journal of Cleaner Production, 76, 106 - 115.
Papargyropoulou, E., Steinberger, J., Wright, N., Lozano, R., Padfield, R. & Ujang, Z. (2019). Patterns and causes of food waste in the hospitality and food service sector: Food waste prevention insights from Malaysia. Sustainability, 11, 6016.
Papargyropoulou, E., Wright, N., Lozano, R., Steinberger, J., Padfield, R. & Ujang, Z. (2016). Conceptual framework for the study of food waste generation and prevention in the hospitality sector. Waste Management, 49, 326 - 336.
ReFED. (2018). The Foodservice Food Waste Action Guide. ReFED. Retrieved from https://www.refed.com/downloads/Foodservice_Guide_Web.pdf. (Accessed 4 February 2024).
Sakaguchi, L., Pak, N. & Potts, M. D. (2018). Tackling the issue of food waste in restaurants: Options for measurement method, reduction and behavioral change. Journal of Cleaner Production, 180, 430 – 436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.136.
SRA-Sustainable Restaurant Association (2010). Too Good to Waste: Restaurant Food Waste Survey Report. SRA, London https://toogood-towaste.co.uk/the-campaign/for-restaurants/.
WRAP-Waste and Resources Action Programme, (2013). Overview of Waste in the UK Hospitality and Food Service Sector. https://bfff.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/WRAP-Waste-in-the-UK-Hospitality-and-Food-Service-Sector-2012-Report.pdf. |
|
| Date published: 2026-06-25
Download full text 
