Comparative Review of Aerobic and Anaerobic Composting for the Reduction of Organic Waste

Composting is a self-heating, aerobic, bio-decomposition process of organic waste that has advantages over other disposal strategies since it reduces waste volume by 40-50% and kills pathogens by the heat generated during the thermophilic phase. This process uses organic waste (food scraps, grass chipping, etc.), water, soil (for added microbes) and either incorporation of air by turning the compost (aerobic) or lack of air within the compost (anaerobic). This study is designed to comparatively assess aerobic and anaerobic composting mechanisms on the productivity rate and analyse the different variables influencing the process. Based on the results obtained the time taken to completely compost the organic materials might not always be the same, because composting time is dependent on the percentage of microorganisms, water content, temperature and C:N ratio present in the pile at the said time along with the amount of material to be composted. Finally, this study will not only help farmers but also the general public in choosing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of reducing organic waste from landfills and reduction of greenhouse gases in the ozone layer.

Adsorbents for Removal of Hazardous Metals from waste water and natural water samples: A Review

Wide ranges of low cost adsorbents were used to remove hazardous metal in aqueous solution and wastewater. The low cost adsorbents were usually collected from agricultural waste, seafood waste, food waste, industrial by-product and soil. These adsorbents are readily available in a copious amount. Some of the natural adsorbents appeared as good heavy metal removal, while some were not and require further modifications and improvements to enhance the adsorption capacity. Currently, heavy metals exist in most of the industrial wastewaters and water supplies are among the most severe environmental contaminants. Numerous research works have been conducted in this field, this review includes few potential solution containing papers.

A comparative study on generation and composition of food waste in Kundasang, Sabah

In this era, we are facing a very troublesome problem, and that is food waste. Food wastage started happening decades ago and is still happening today. This not only comes from large-scale food and beverage production but, unfortunately, also comes from people’s behavior. Which had made the research to study the generation and composition of food waste in Kundasang, Sabah and identify the awareness of food waste management. the collection of the food waste involved in residential and commercial and then, divide into two types which are cooked and uncooked food waste. As a result, the food waste generated from the commercial was more than residential area. Then, the food waste generation rate for every person is 0.14 kg/person/day. Most of the people in Kundasang know about food waste management but they do not know the proper way to manage the food waste but 64 % of them, interest to involve minimize the food waste in the future. Knowledge and skills can be spread among family residents through sports and awareness activities related to food management. In short, appropriate methods should be introduced to overcome the restrictions on the residents of Kundasang’s households to minimize food waste.

“Stay at Home”: The Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Household Food Waste in Colombia

Household food waste represents one of the main challenges for sustainable development as this directly affects the economy of food consumers, the loss of natural resources and generates additional greenhouse gas emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies caused one of the most serious economic crises in recent decades and could become the worst economic crisis that Latin America has had in its history. The objective of this study is to analyze changes in food waste behavior during the COVID-19 lockdown in Colombia in 2020, applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). For this purpose, we conducted a survey with 581 Colombian food consumers, which examined the influence of intentions to not waste food, subjective norms, some situational predictors, questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the control of perceived behavior on food waste. The results suggest that the TPB can predict the intention to not waste food and, through it, the actual household food waste behavior, considering the lockdown in Colombia as an external shock. We observe that regarding the intention to not waste food, the most relevant variables are attitudes, subjective norms, control of the perceived behavior, and concerns regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. These variables increase the probability on average by a 0.8 Odds Ratio that the intention not to waste food increases, too. Regarding food waste behavior, whether it is considered ordinal or nominal, we see that the most relevant variables are intention, financial attitudes, and control of perceived behavior, doubling the probability that food waste behavior will improve. Based on the results, we provide recommendations for interested stakeholders that can help in the design of instruments for household food waste reduction.

Dining On Call: Outcomes of a hospital patient dining model

Dining On Call (DOC) is a hospital foodservice model allowing patients to order meals any time throughout the day and is delivered within 45 minutes of the order. It is positively correlated with patient satisfaction, improvements in malnutrition, and reducing costs. Pre- and post-DOC data were collected from BC Children’s Hospital, BC Women’s Hospital, and North York General Hospital (NYGH) using patient satisfaction surveys and tray waste audits to measure outcomes. Patient satisfaction scores increased at all hospitals. BC Children’s and Women’s hospitals demonstrated reductions in tray waste, food cost/meal/day, and labour cost/meal/day post-DOC. North York General Hospital observed decreases in tray waste; however, food cost/meal/day and labour cost/meal/day increased post-DOC. This research provides convincing evidence into the achievable benefits associated with DOC on mother and paediatric units in hospital settings. DOC may prove to be an effective dining model for hospitals seeking to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs.

Investigating the effectiveness of nanotechnologies in environmental health with an emphasis on environmental health journals

Objective The use of nanotechnologies is important to reduce environmental health problems in Iran, so the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of nanotechnologies in environmental health. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study for 11-year periods (2008–2018) on all articles published in three specialized journals of environmental health with emphasis on the use of nanotechnologies in various fields of environmental health (water, air, sewage, waste, food, radiation, etc). Results In this study, 774 articles related to 114 issues of 3 specialized environmental health journals were reviewed. A review of 774 articles showed that 80 articles (10.3%) were published in the field of nanotechnologies. Out of 80 articles published in the field of nanotechnology, 66 articles (82.5%) were published on the subject of water, 9 articles (11.3%) on wastewater and 5 articles (6.2%) on air pollution. Subject review of articles showed that articles using carbon nanotubes to remove natural organic pollutants, surfactants, hydroxybenzenes, phenol, dimethyl phthalates, use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, iron-magnesium nanoparticles for wastewater treatment, Silver nanoparticles were used to remove air pollution. The results showed that published articles on nanotechnology in the field of environmental health were few.

Evaluate the drying of food waste using cabinet dryer

Purpose In order to reduce leachate from food waste; a food waste dryer with a conventional tray was built, and drying of food waste was investigated. Methods Power of 2.7 kW was used as the heat source, and a centrifugal fan with an air volume of 1300 m3/h, 2800 rpm, and 110 pa was used. The experiments were performed at three temperatures of 50, 60, and 70°C and three air velocities of 1, 1.5, and 2 m/s with a thickness of 3 cm. A conventional tray was used for drying. The Drying kinetics, effective moisture diffusivity, activation energy, and dryer energy consumption during drying of food waste were obtained. Result The minimum drying process was occurred in temperature of 70°C and air velocity of 2 m/s at the 120 min, and the maximum drying process was happened in temperature of 50°C and air velocity of 1 m/s at the 890 min. The energy consumption of drying process had the lowest value at 70°C of temperature and 2 m/s of inlet air velocity. The highest energy consumption value was related to temperature of 50°C and velocity of 1m/s. Effective moisture diffusivity of waste food during the drying process was in the range of 2.74×10− 9-3.65×10− 8 m2/s. The values of energy of activation were determined between 21.596 and 64 KJ/mol. Conclusion Cabinet dryer with a conventional tray can be used for drying food waste in the shortest time with low energy consumption.

Food insecurity, food waste, food behaviours and cooking confidence of UK citizens at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown

PurposeThe current pilot study explored food insecurity, food waste, food related behaviours and cooking confidence of UK consumers following the COVID-19 lockdown.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 473 UK-based consumers (63% female) in March 2020. A cross-sectional online survey measured variables including food insecurity prevalence, self-reported food waste, food management behaviours, confidence and frequency of use of a range of cooking methods, type of food eaten (ultra-processed, semi-finished, unprocessed) and packaging type foods are purchased in.Findings39% of participants have experienced some food insecurity in the last 12 months. Being younger, having a greater BMI and living in a smaller household were associated with food insecurity. Green leaves, carrots, potatoes and sliced bread are the most wasted of purchased foods. Polenta, green leaves and white rice are the most wasted cooked foods. Food secure participants reported wasting a smaller percentage of purchased and cooked foods compared to food insecure participants. Overall, participants were most confident about boiling, microwaving and stir-frying and least confident with using a pressure cooker or sous vide. Food secure participants were more confident with boiling, stir-frying, grilling and roasting than insecure food participants.Practical implicationsThis has implications for post lockdown policy, including food policies and guidance for public-facing communications.Originality/valueWe identified novel differences in self-report food waste behaviours and cooking confidence between the food secure and insecure consumers and observed demographics associated with food insecurity.