Explaining Food Waste Dissimilarities in the European Union: An Analysis of Economic, Demographic, and Educational...

Food waste remains a persistent sustainability challenge for the European Union, revealing how economic development, demographic structures, and educational attainment intersect to shape consumption behavior. Although rising prosperity can enhance efficiency, it often encourages overproduction and habits of abundance that increase food waste. This study investigates the structural drivers behind the variation in per capita food waste across EU member states by examining the combined influences of economic growth, human capital, and population density. Using a cross-country dataset, the analysis integrates factorial methods to identify latent relationships among socioeconomic indicators, a multilayer perceptron to capture nonlinear dependencies, and cluster analysis to classify countries according to shared development and education patterns. The results show that higher income and consumption levels tend to elevate food waste. Nevertheless, this effect is moderated when educational attainment and public awareness are stronger, highlighting the role of knowledge in shaping responsible consumption. The neural network further demonstrates that the relationship between prosperity and waste is not linear but mediated by the cognitive and social capacities of each society. Cluster patterns reveal regional models where sustainability policies and cultural norms contribute to more efficient food management. Overall, the study emphasizes that food waste arises from structural disparities rather than isolated behaviors, offering an evidence-based foundation for integrated EU policies that support more sustainable and equitable resource use.