A large proportion of school meals are wasted, leading to missed opportunities to nourish pupils, environmental impacts, and economic losses. This intervention study evaluated the long-term efficacy of three educational approaches (giving feedback to guests via plate waste tracker, pedagogic meals, and kitchen workshops) in reducing plate waste in school canteens across Europe (Austria, Germany, and Sweden). Following the intervention, a sustainability assessment was conducted, including environmental, economic, and social perspectives. The results showed that the plate waste tracker significantly reduced plate waste, by 17% (4 g/guest) from an already lower baseline level of 23 g/guest, while demonstrating long-term efficacy with sustained waste reduction up to 15 months post-implementation. This reduction lowered the environmental impacts (by 212 kg carbon dioxide equivalents per school & year) and nutrient losses (1018 MJ, 12 kg protein, and 4 kg fiber per school & year), while proving cost-effective with a payback period of only 1–2 years. Therefore, despite upfront costs and implementation barriers, food waste reduction measures in school canteens provide substantial long-term benefits across environmental, economic, and social dimensions, making them a valuable investment for sustainable school meal programs.

中文翻译：

---

对学校餐饮中防止厨余措施的教育方法进行可持续性评估


很大一部分校餐被浪费，导致错过了滋养学生的机会、环境影响和经济损失。这项干预研究评估了三种教育方法（通过盘子浪费追踪器向客人提供反馈、教学餐和厨房研讨会）在减少欧洲（奥地利、德国和瑞典）学校食堂盘子浪费方面的长期效果。干预后，进行了可持续性评估，包括环境、经济和社会观点。结果表明，板片废料跟踪器显著减少了板片废料，从已经较低的基线水平 23 克/客体减少了 17%（4 克/客），同时在实施后长达 15 个月内显示出持续减少废料的长期疗效。这种减少降低了环境影响（每学校每年减少212公斤二氧化碳当量）和营养损失（每学校每年减少1018 MJ，12公斤蛋白质和4公斤纤维），同时证明了成本效益，投资回收期仅为1-2年。因此，尽管存在前期成本和实施障碍，但学校食堂的减少食物浪费措施在环境、经济和社会方面提供了巨大的长期利益，使其成为可持续学校供餐计划的宝贵投资。