scholarly journals Sustainability-Oriented Innovations in Food Waste Management Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Carlos Martin-Rios ◽  
Anastasia Hofmann ◽  
Naomi Mackenzie

Food is essential to our survival, yet the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that about 820 million people were undernourished in 2018. In this context, food waste generation is a particularly salient issue. Wasting food means missing opportunities to feed the growing world population and consuming scarce resources, such as land, water and energy used in the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food. Firms in HORECA (hospitality, restaurant and catering) represent a considerable share of total food waste and, more importantly, are characterized by an overall low sense of awareness about the sustainability-oriented innovation opportunities and challenges of minimizing food waste. This article draws on an in-depth case study to explore the use of technological advancements in downstream value chain. This case study draws on a tech startup providing services for HORECA companies to address a new way for companies to solve the food waste challenge. Adopting technological innovations to quantify and minimize wastage via collaborations with third-party companies can be a strategic and cost-effective way to supplement a company’s open innovation activities.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hugo Spieser

In the second half of the 20th century, post-war Europe saw major economic growth due to national reconstructions associated with high employment, industrial mass production and demographic boom. As a consequence, generalised globalisation raised an intensified international flux of goods, services and information. Advancing technology and ever-increasing worldwide goods consumption has led to the age of plastics. Their relatively easy processability and strong physico-chemical properties such as optical, mechanical or barrier properties make them the perfect candidate for many applications in building and construction, automotive, agriculture, electronics, household leisure and sports, appliances, medical furniture and packaging. In 2018, the production of plastic in Europe reached 64.4 million tons and the packaging sector represents the largest sector demands1. The market value of the packaging sector was valued at high as 917 billion US dollar in 2019 and is still rising at an annual growth of 2.8%2.In the packaging industry, the largest part concerns food packaging3 and the overall increasing number and movement of food products however also causes an increasing amount of worldwide food waste. Around one third of the globally produced food is wasted according to the estimations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations4. This represents 1.2 billion tons per year which seems outrageous as the FAO also estimated in 2018 that around 800 million people were chronically undernourished in the world. Food waste is a important challenge for mankind as the world population is expected to reach 10 billion people in 2050 and feeding all of them is a great challenge.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A Almenara

[THE MANUSCRIPT IS A DRAFT] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2020), food waste and losses comprises nearly 1.3 billion tonnes every year, which equates to around US$ 990 billion worldwide. Ironically, over 820 million people do not have enough food to eat (FAO, 2020). This gap production-consumption puts in evidence the need to reformulate certain practices such as the controversial monocropping (i.e., growing a single crop on the same land on a yearly basis), as well as to improve others such as revenue management through intelligent systems. In this first part of a series of articles, the focus is on the Peruvian anchoveta fish (Engraulis ringens).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 5911
Author(s):  
Vanesa Martos ◽  
Ali Ahmad ◽  
Pedro Cartujo ◽  
Javier Ordoñez

Timely and reliable information about crop management, production, and yield is considered of great utility by stakeholders (e.g., national and international authorities, farmers, commercial units, etc.) to ensure food safety and security. By 2050, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, around 70% more production of agricultural products will be needed to fulfil the demands of the world population. Likewise, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the second goal of “zero hunger”, potential technologies like remote sensing (RS) need to be efficiently integrated into agriculture. The application of RS is indispensable today for a highly productive and sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the present study draws a general overview of RS technology with a special focus on the principal platforms of this technology, i.e., satellites and remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), and the sensors used, in relation to the 5th industrial revolution. Nevertheless, since 1957, RS technology has found applications, through the use of satellite imagery, in agriculture, which was later enriched by the incorporation of remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), which is further pushing the boundaries of proficiency through the upgrading of sensors capable of higher spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions. More prominently, wireless sensor technologies (WST) have streamlined real time information acquisition and programming for respective measures. Improved algorithms and sensors can, not only add significant value to crop data acquisition, but can also devise simulations on yield, harvesting and irrigation periods, metrological data, etc., by making use of cloud computing. The RS technology generates huge sets of data that necessitate the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to extract useful products, thereby augmenting the adeptness and efficiency of agriculture to ensure its sustainability. These technologies have made the orientation of current research towards the estimation of plant physiological traits rather than the structural parameters possible. Futuristic approaches for benefiting from these cutting-edge technologies are discussed in this study. This study can be helpful for researchers, academics, and young students aspiring to play a role in the achievement of sustainable agriculture.


1953 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-410

The annual report of the Food and Agriculture Organization to the sixteenth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council included the report of the sixteenth session of the FAO Council, a brief summary of the main features of the FAO program of work and budget for 1954 and 1955, an indication of the contents of The State of Food and Agriculture 1953, and reference to issues on which the United Nations General Assembly and Economic and Social Council passed resolutions during the preceding year. Respecting the world food situation the report stated that a recent assessment of the trend of food requirements had been made by FAO on the basis of population estimates supplied by the Population Division of the United Nations for countries other than the USSR, eastern Europe, and China. FAO found that the annual increase in world population was about 30 millions; that the situation was at least as critical as was reported to ECOSOC last year; and that world food production, aided by favorable weather in a majority of countries in the last two crop years, was increasing in most countries, but in general less rapidly than the growth of population. In the previous twelve months FAO had made intensive preparation for three regional meetings on food and agricultural programs and outlook which, in accordance with the request of the sixth session of the FAO conference, were to be held during mid-1953 in the far east, Latin America, and the near east. These meetings, complementary to the whole of the organization's work in the field of technical assistance, would be similar to those held in Latin America and the near east prior to the sixth FAO conference.


Author(s):  
Taliyil P Sethumadhavan

Recent reports reveal that in the globalised era farming will move towards meat and milk production from traditional rice and grain agriculture in line with the changing consumer tastes. The joint report by Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and the Paris based organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of 34 leading world economies contained price and production forecasts to 2023 revealed that world meat production will have gone up by 58 million tones with developing countries making up 80 percent of increase. Report highlights that livestock production is projected to grow at higher rates than crop production. Moreover animal protein sources are easiest way through which protein malnutrition can be corrected easily. Since the commodity value of livestock products are high when compared to agriculture commodities in the coming years livestock products will the focus area for augmenting GDP in Agriculture sector. So institutional support are required for increasing production, productivity, food security, food safety, knowledge dissemination and services to achieve these objectives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 921 (1) ◽  
pp. 012079
Author(s):  
H Herawati ◽  
N Chatib ◽  
D Suswati ◽  
Y M Soetarto

Abstract Tidal swamps which are widespread in lowland areas have the potential to be used for agricultural activities. The amount of rain potential available in this type of land can be used to supply water for irrigation purposes so that plants grow optimally. However, the tidal potential especially on the peat swamps area may have a negative impact, namely the occurrence of nutrient leaching from the soil, which is harmful to plants. Rasau Jaya, a tidal lowland area with peat swamp soil characteristic, is an area allocated for rice and corn cultivation. The study was conducted with the aim to determine the physical potential and constraints of land and water management in Rasau Jaya for the cultivation of both types of plants. This research was conducted through field observations and measurements as well as laboratory tests and model scale to evaluate the characteristics of existing land quality based on Land Suitability Classification by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The result of this study shows that characteristics of water availability in Rasau Jaya is classified as Class S1 Highly Suitable for rice and corn crops, while existing conditions of land in Rasau Jaya III are generally classified in the S2 class Moderately Suitable for rice and corn crops. Appropriate land management is needed to increase land productivity for the cultivation of the Rasau Jaya’s assigned priority crops.


Worldview ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Sudhir Sen

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is convening a World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) at FAO headquarters in Rome from July 12 to 20, 1979. This will provide a unique opportunity— perhaps the last, best chance—to come to grips with a problem that has long been crying out for an aggressive, well-planned attack.The trends are disastrous. The hour is already late. With each passing day some 200,000 more people are added to the world population, mostly to the poor nations to swell the ranks of their destitute.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Chu Chen

In Taiwan, municipal solid waste (MSW) is separated into general, recyclable, and food waste categories. General waste must be packaged into pre-paid trash bags before final disposal. Recyclable items and food waste are collected separately to reduce the costs of using pre-paid trash bags. This study applied a choice experiment approach to evaluate marginal willingness-to-pay (WTP) in different MSW disposal system scenarios. Variables include cleanliness, location for purchasing pre-paid trash bags, frequency of waste collection, and distance to waste disposal. The results indicate that cleanliness, location, and distance influence public behavior, acceptance, and participation. Higher collection frequency decreases public acceptance. Some of the socio-economic variables of the respondents, including age, education, and marriage status, affect MSW management alternatives. The marginal WTP of the scenarios in this study ranged from US$0.04-0.07 per trash bag. Online purchasing of pre-paid trash bags is more cost-effective and should be encouraged. The results of this study provide useful information for the development of policies related to waste management systems.


Author(s):  
David Pimentel ◽  
Michael Burgess

A rapidly growing world population and an even more rapidly growing consumption of fossil fuels are increasing demand for both food and biofuels, which will exaggerate both the food and fuel shortages around the world. Producing biofuels requires huge amounts of both fossil energy and food resources, which will intensify conflicts over these resources. Using food crops to produce ethanol raises major nutritional and ethical concerns. More than 66% of the world human population is currently malnourished, so the need for grains and other basic foods is critical. Growing crops for fuel squanders land, water, and energy resources vital for the production of food for people. Using food and feed crops for ethanol production has brought increases in the prices of US beef, chicken, pork, eggs, breads, cereals, and milk of 10% to 20%. In addition, Jacques Diouf, Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that using food grains to produce biofuels is already causing food shortages for the poor of the world. Growing crops for biofuel ignores the need to reduce natural resource consumption and exacerbates the problem of malnourishment worldwide by turning food grain into biofuel.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Giordano ◽  
Fabrizio Alboni ◽  
Luca Falasconi

Food waste at the household level accounts for a significant share of total food waste in developed economies, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Studies have shown that this share varies between 0.3 kg to 4.5 kg per person per week, depending on the definitions and methodologies applied. In Italy, quantities, behaviors, and attitudes regarding food waste have been solely explored through the use of questionnaires, typically leading to discrepant values of food waste. In this study, we estimate and analyse the determinants of food waste over a 388 units’ panel spread over the national territory, through a diary and questionnaire study. Moreover, by comparing food waste value that was declared in questionnaires and reported in diaries, we confirm that the awareness of food waste quantities is heavily biased. The results confirm that the average food waste value is significantly higher when gathered through diaries, while questionnaires are able to catch less than one-third of food waste determinants.


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