ASSESSMENT OF RESTAURANTS FOOD WASTE TOWARDS CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN TRANSITION COUNTRY CITIES

Food waste has been marked as one of the most important waste streams in sustainable waste management systems. Its improper management can have a great potential negative effect on the environment and human health. Apart from food waste in households, significant amounts of this waste flow are generated from the commercial and hospitality sector sources, including restaurants. The paper's main objective was to define an appropriate methodology to quantify the amount and composition of generated food waste from restaurants in the city of Novi Sad (Serbia). Obtained results indicated that the average mass of produced food waste in representative restaurants is 187.8 kg/week, or 9.8 tons annually. Therefore, the total mass of generated food waste for all restaurants in Novi Sad was projected to be 3,063 t/year. Composition analysis showed that the most dominant category in food waste from restaurants had vegetables with a mass share of 49.5 %, followed by "bread & pastry" (19.4 %) and "meat, fish and eggs" (18.9 %). Obtained results can be an essential first step and of great importance towards sustainable and feasible longstanding management of food waste from restaurants following the idea and goals of circular economy, especially for transition countries like Serbia.