Waste Watchers: A Citizen Science Project to Reduce Food & Plastic Wastes from Households in Lebanon and Switzerland

Swiss partners

• FHNW: Lena Breitenmoser, Karina Rohrer-Liechti

 MENA partners

• American University of Beirut: May Massoud

Presentation of the project

This project explores the use of citizen science to understand household food and plastic waste in Switzerland and Lebanon, two countries with contrasting waste infrastructures and consumption patterns. By engaging 100 households (50 per country), primarily students, educators, and their families, the project tests a hybrid waste monitoring approach that
combines digital self-reporting with physical waste analysis to support system understanding and targeted interventions.

Participants will track their food and plastic waste over ten days using a digital diary. For food waste, they will record what was discarded, the reason (e.g. spoilage, over-preparation), and the disposal method (e.g. trash, compost, sewer, animal feed). For plastic waste, entries will include the item type (e.g. packaging, bag), origin (e.g. supermarket, take-away), reason for disposal, and disposal route (e.g. recycling, trash). Participants will also note if the plastic was avoidable, reusable, or recyclable.

A short behavioral survey will accompany the diary to gather information on shopping, food storage, cooking and eating habits, plastic use, and attitudes toward waste. These data will help contextualize disposal behaviors and inform interventions.

While the sample is not fully representative, focusing on students and teachers offers insights into food and plastic waste behaviors in educational and youth-influenced environments. It also leverages existing networks to ensure strong participation. Further, to address the limitations of self-reported data, 20% of households will also conduct physical waste
sorting. Comparing this with diary data will help assess reporting biases and validate findings.

This mixed-method approach enhances data quality and provides behavioral insights across two contrasting settings. The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 by identifying avoidable food and plastic waste, raising awareness at the household level, and informing scalable citizen science approaches for waste reduction in Switzerland, Lebanon, and beyond.