Environmental sustainability assessment of food waste valorization options

AbstractThe world is confronted with the depletion of natural resources due to their unsustainable use, increased global competiveness, increasing population and other environmental and economic challenges. Under the European 2020 growth strategy launched in 2010, Europe has set itself the goal of shifting from linear to circular models of production and consumption. In this context, food waste management poses a great challenge. This study focusses on the possible destinations for food waste, specifically, on the most sustainable practices that turn waste into valuable resources. Particular attention is devoted to the potential offered by fast-growing sectors such as the bioeconomy, which is contributing to increased energy and materials production with reduced environmental impact, at the same time creating new job opportunities. In this paper we will argue that an holistic approach considering the issue of food wastage as part of a broader emerging bio-economy and circular-economic model, might provide win-win solutions able to minimize wastage, promote income growth and job creation, and prompt sustainable local development. However, in order to enable an effective transition to a circular bioeconomy able to minimize the impact of food wastage, the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of this new model must be properly evaluated through appropriate tools, e.g. through an overall Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).

Download Full-text

Food Waste Valorization to Green Energy Vehicles: Sustainability Assessment

Energy & Environmental Science ◽

10.1039/d1ee00850a ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jaewon Byun ◽

Oseok Kwon ◽

Hoyoung Park ◽

Jeehoon Han

Keyword(s):

Population Growth ◽

Food Waste ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Green Energy ◽

Waste Valorization ◽

Sustainable Society ◽

Feasibility Assessment ◽

Social Advancement

Increases in food waste (FW) and green vehicle (GV) due to population growth and social advancement can hinder realizing a sustainable society. This study propose a systematic sustainable feasibility assessment...

Download Full-text

Factors affecting technology selection, techno-economic and environmental sustainability assessment of a novel zero-waste system for food waste and wastewater management

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128103 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 128103

Author(s):

Thammananya Sakcharoen ◽

Chavalit Ratanatamskul ◽

Achara Chandrachai

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Technology Selection ◽

Wastewater Management ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Zero Waste

Download Full-text

Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation Challenges in Szekszárd Wine Region, Hungary

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli9020025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Attila Buzási

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Evaluation Methodology ◽

Intrinsic Factors ◽

Vulnerability Assessments ◽

The Future ◽

Climate Vulnerability ◽

High Level ◽

Wine Region ◽

Lock In

Wine producers face several challenges regarding climate change, which will affect this industry both in the present and the future. Vulnerability assessments are at the forefront of current climate research, therefore, the present paper has two main aims. First, to assess two components of climate vulnerability regarding the Szekszárd wine region, Hungary; second, to collect and analyze adaptation farming techniques in terms of environmental sustainability aspects. Exposure analyses revealed that the study area will face several challenges regarding intensive drought periods in the future. Sensitivity indicators show the climate-related characteristics of the most popular grapevines and their relatively high level of susceptibility regarding changing climatic patterns. Since both external and intrinsic factors of vulnerability show deteriorating trends, the development of adaptation actions is needed. Adaptation interventions often provide unsustainable solutions or entail maladaptation issues, therefore, an environmental-focused sustainability assessment of collected interventions was performed to avoid long-term negative path dependencies. The applied evaluation methodology pointed out that nature-based adaptation actions are preferred in comparison to using additional machines or resource-intensive solutions. This study can fill the scientific gap by analyzing this wine region for the first time, via performing an ex-ante lock-in analysis of available and widely used adaptation interventions in the viticulture sector.

Download Full-text

Food Waste in Da Nang City of Vietnam: Trends, Challenges, and Perspectives toward Sustainable Resource Use

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13137368 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 7368

Author(s):

Ngoc-Bao Pham ◽

Thu-Nga Do ◽

Van-Quang Tran ◽

Anh-Duc Trinh ◽

Chen Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

African Swine Fever ◽

Modern Society ◽

Critical Issue ◽

Typical Feature ◽

City Government ◽

Willingness To Participate ◽

Waste Generation ◽

Pig Feed

Food waste has become a critical issue in modern society, especially in the urbanized and fast-growing cities of Asia. The increase in food waste has serious negative impacts on environmental sustainability, water and land resources, and food security, as well as climate and greenhouse gas emissions. Through a specific case study in Da Nang City, Vietnam, this paper examines the extent of food waste generation at the consumption stages, the eating habits of consumers, food waste from households and service establishments, as well as prospects for the reuse of food waste as pig feed. The results of this study indicate that per capita food waste generation in Da Nang has increased from 0.39 to 0.41kg in 2016, 0.46 in 2017, and reached 0.52kg in 2018. According to the results of our consumer survey, 20% of respondents stated that they often generate food waste, 67% stated they sometimes do, and 13% stated they rarely do. Furthermore, 66% of surveyed households stated that their food waste is collected and transported by pig farmers to be used as feed for pigs. The use of food waste as feed for pigs is a typical feature in Da Nang. The study also found that there is a high level of consumer awareness and willingness to participate in the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) program, which was being initiated by the city government. In service facilities such as resorts and hotels, daily food waste reached 100–200 kg in large facilities and 20–120 kg in small facilities. This waste was also collected for use in pig farming. However, there has been a fall in demand for pig feed in line with a decrease in the number of pig farms due to the African swine fever epidemic that occurred during the implementation of this study. This paper suggests that there is a strong need to take both consumer-oriented waste prevention and waste management measures, such as waste segregation at source and introduction of effective food waste recycling techniques, to ensure that food waste can be safely and sustainably used as a “valuable resource” rather than “wasted.”

Download Full-text