A smart barcode-based approach for reducing consumer food waste

Abstract

Food waste is a major global issue for sustainability. This study aims to implement a mobile application by integrating smart barcodes to support consumers in reducing household food waste. Hence, this study is a case study to gain insights into household food waste and determine consumers’ willingness to reduce it. Interviews with food waste experts and consumers were conducted to gather qualitative data. The proposed mobile application was implemented as a prototype using the User-Centered Design approach, and it enables users to scan smart barcodes of food items, track food expiry dates and changes, and share surplus food information using generated smart barcodes. The mobile application was evaluated by conducting usability testing. The interview findings revealed valuable insights into consumer food waste and consumer preferences for using smart barcodes and mobile apps to reduce household food waste. Usability testing results show that app is easy to learn and has gained an acceptable level of user satisfaction. These findings show that smart barcodes have the potential to reduce consumer food waste in the household by increasing consumer awareness, facilitating the sharing of surplus food information, and simplifying the tracking of expiry dates through the usage of a mobile application.