Canteen Waste Research Articles

Unveiling the abundance and potential impacts of microplastic contamination in commercial organic fertilizers/compost produced from different solid waste.

This study comprehensively investigated the abundance, morphologies, and polymer types of plastics, larger (1-5mm) and smaller (< 1mm) microplastics (MPs), in organic fertilizers using spectroscopic and microscopic methods. MPs abundance varied depending on the type of waste employed. MPs were detected in 80% of the investigated compost samples, while macro/meso plastics were found in only four samples. Compost from mixed municipal solid waste exhibited the highest MPs contamination (23100 ± 3615 items/kg dry weight), whereas compost produced from canteen waste had the lowest contamination (100 ± 65 items/kg dry weight). Smaller MPs were dominant in all samples. The estimated loads of MPs introduced into agricultural soil exceeded the previous studies. Common morphologies observed were sheet, film, fragment, and fiber, while dominant polymer types were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS). Heavy metals, including Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb, were identified in association with MPs. Results indicate that the utilization of appropriate waste for composting and upgrading fertilizer regulations is crucial to protect the environment and human health from smaller MPs.

The effects of an online food waste reduction platform in university canteens in Wuhan, China

Wasted food (WF) and the associated waste derived from young adults have gained increased attention due to their rising quantity and negative environmental impacts; however, WF reduction measures are still scare. To address this gap, we conducted a case study (Wuhan) targeted at typical young adults (e.g., university students) using the direct weighing method (1872 samples), field investigation (195990 samples), and a questionnaire survey (799 samples). Owing to the low “Clean your plate” (CYP) rate (48 ± 36% per meal) and the high canteen takeout rate (43 ± 22% per meal) generated by the surveyed students, the investigated canteens in Wuhan produced 63 thousand metric tons (TMt) of canteen waste and 198 TMt CO2e during the life cycle stage in 2022. Food was primarily wasted due to food quantity (e.g., over-purchase of food) and quality (e.g., poor taste), and packaging waste was generated due to canteen takeout (PW_CT). We suggest the adoption of an online waste reduction platform to effectively reduce WF and PW_CT, which was designed with two mitigation solutions (CYP, “Over-Purchasing Reminder” [OPR], and “Canceling Packaging Option” [CPO] modules for SI; CYP, OPR, and “Sharing Tableware Option” [STO] modules for SII). When in operation, the platform helped consumers prevent the generation of approximately 42 and 43 TMt of canteen waste generated for SI and SII, respectively. This was accompanied by the maximal economic value (saving 73 million USD for SI) and the maximal climate benefits (143 TMt CO2e mitigation for SII).

Canteen waste as food for black soldier fly larvae: risk of heavy metals accumulation? Variability during one year of rearing

Abstract Worldwide, about 244 million t/yr of waste are produced by canteens and restaurant, of which 4.7 million t/yr are generated at the Italian level. Canteen waste (CW) could be used for feeding larvae of insect to obtain new marketable products (e.g. protein meal, frass and chitin). Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) are voracious and polyphagous species, and CW is a complete food for them. Furthermore, BSFL are capable to bioaccumulate some heavy metals thus allowing to obtain safe organic frass, but the bioaccumulation in larvae intended for feed purpose needs to be evaluated. The CW was sampled once a month and the sampling was carried out for a year from a local canteen, located in the northern part of Italy. The feeding was conducted in quadruplicate in plastic containers (12 l) and 2,000 g of CW and 2,000 5 days-old larvae were allocated in each box. Each trial ended after 7 days and growth performances were evaluated. The results reported an average dry matter final larval biomass, along the year, of 83.8 ± 46.05 g and an average dry matter frass quantity equal to 199.9 ± 140.32 g. The percentage of dry matter for initial diet was 21.7 ± 14.10, for final larval biomass was 34.3 ± 7.39%, and for the residue of 62.2 ± 17.01%. The initial diet, BSFL before and after feeding, and the residue were sampled and oven dried. Elemental analyses were performed with a mass spectrometer in triplicate for evaluating arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury quantities within CW, residues and BSFL before and after feeding. This trial certifies the ability of BSFL to accumulate (BAF &gt; 1) arsenic (average of 0.165 ± 0.1480 ppm), lead (average of 0.238 ± 0.1562 ppm), cadmium (average of 0.077 ± 0.0367 ppm), and mercury (average of 0.008 ± 0.0043 ppm) during feeding, and it proves that the bioaccumulation complies with European legal limits on the amount of heavy metals in larvae.

Development of lab-scale gasification systems for different possible applications

The goal of gasification is the conversion of solid fuels or carbonaceous wastes to gas that can be further used energetically or for chemically utilisation. Due to cost-effectiveness and gaining experience, the industrial application of new systems and raw materials or mixtures must be preceded by laboratory-scale experiments. The manuscript presents the laboratory scale gasification systems we designed and used, as well as the difficulties experienced during the implementation (e.g. water introduction, sealing, etc.). In addition to these, the results of one-, two- and three-stage experiments are presented as examples, where different materials such as a mixture of wood and canteen waste, brown coal and refuse derived fuel (RDF) were used for testing the system.

Upcycling of food waste streams to valuable biopigments pyocyanin and 1-hydroxyphenazine

Phenazines, including pyocyanin (PYO) and 1-hydroxyphenazine (1-HP) are extracellular secondary metabolites and multifunctional pigments of Pseudomonas aeruginosa responsible for its blue-green color. These versatile molecules are electrochemically active, involved in significant biological activities giving fitness to the host, but also recognized as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Their wider application is still limited partly due to the cost of carbon substrate for production, which can be solved by the utilization of carbon from food waste within the biorefinery concept. In this study, a variety of food waste streams (banana peel, potato peel, potato washing, stale bread, yoghurt, processed meat, boiled eggs and mixed canteen waste) was used as sole nutrient source in submerged cultures of P. aeruginosa BK25H. Stale bread was identified as the most suitable substrate to support phenazine biopigments production and bacterial growth. This was further increased in 5-liter fermenter when on average 5.2 mg L-1 of PYO and 4.4 mg L-1 of 1-HP were purified after 24 h batch cultivations from the fermentation medium consisting of homogenized stale bread in tap water. Purified biopigments showed moderate antimicrobial activity, and showed different toxicity profiles, with PYO not being toxic against Caenorhabditis elegans, a free-living soil nematode up to 300 µg mL-1 and 1-HP showing lethal effects at 75 µg mL-1. Therefore, stale bread waste stream with minimal pretreatment should be considered as suitable biorefinery feedstock, as it can support the production of valuable biopigments such as phenazines.

Efficiency of Rhodopseudomonas faecalis in Increasing Digestion of Substrate in an Anaerobic Digester

An anaerobic Purple Non Sulphur Bacteria (PNSB), Rhodopseudomonas faecalis was utilized as an inoculum to study the efficiency of a biogas digester. A 5 litre capacity anaerobic digester was prepared with 10% feed, 30 days of Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was studied using canteen waste as a substrate. Parameters like pH, Temperature, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Solids (TS), Volatile Solids (VS) and gas production were analyzed and recorded on every day. It was found that pH was decreased and temperature was varying. Increase in the digestion of the substrates was due to the addition of the bacterium eventually causing decrease in COD, TS &amp; VS, was observed. This has increased the production of biogas in the digester.

Biogas production from canteen waste

Abstract Day by day as the population increases, food waste keeps on growing. This waste needs to be managed in order to reduce the number of landfills and to use food waste efficiently. Among the various processes available, Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of food waste is one of the alternatives for processing food waste. The two biggest obstacles to anaerobic digestion of food waste are high biodegradability and high C/N ratio. The C/N ratio determines the ratio between substrate and nutrients; the latter is essential for microbial synthesis and for providing alkalinity through ammonia metabolism. Biogas, a product of the anaerobic digestion process, is a clean and renewable form of energy that can replace conventional energy sources that cause ecological-environmental problems and at the same time are depleted more quickly. The aim of this work was to increase the nitrogen content to enhance the production of biogas from canteen waste. During the process, two digesters of the same capacity were operated. Anaerobic digestion of canteen waste along with addition of ammonium chloride was carried out in Digester 1 while AD of only canteen waste was carried out in Digester 2. The amount of biogas produced in Digester 1 was in the range of 0.04 m3/kg–0.075 m3/kg, while in Digester 2 the volume range was 0.02 m3/kg–0.04 m3/kg. The average biogas produced in digester 1 consisting of canteen waste and nitrogen source was 0.053 m3/kg while biogas production in digester 2 with only canteen waste was 0.030 m3/kg. So, biogas produced by addition of nitrogen source was 77 % higher than that of only canteen waste. From this study we obtained a higher amount of biogas by addition of ammonium chloride as an external nitrogen source. Nitrogen demand of methanogens was fulfilled by additional supply of nitrogen resulting in increased quantity of biogas. Therefore, in anaerobic digestion addition of ammonium chloride was beneficial for food waste digestion. Hence, nitrogen content in canteen waste turned out to be the main parameter affecting anaerobic digestion of canteen waste which is justified in this research.

Navigating practical applications of food waste valorisation based on the effects of food waste origins and storage conditions

Food wastes used as feedstock in biorefineries are of both research and market interest for solving related environmental issues and valorising to value-added products. However, the distinct conditions and characteristics governing the valorisation of different types of food waste remain to be addressed, such as different origins and storage conditions of food wastes. In this study, the characteristics of four types of food waste (student canteen waste, bakery waste, Chinese food waste, and Western food waste) after designed storage experiments (storage temperature − 4°C, 25 °C, and 35 °C; storage duration 1–3 days) were first investigated, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to obtain food waste hydrolysates that can be applied to microalgal fermentation. The results showed that the characteristics of the food wastes and their corresponding hydrolysates differed based on their origins. Furthermore, cultivation of the microalgae Euglena gracilis demonstrated the feasibility of using food waste hydrolysates as the sole nutrient source, and both the origin and storage conditions of food wastes were found to affect microalgal growth and paramylon production. Possible inhibitors that could account for the different performances of food waste hydrolysates were identified by untargeted metabolite analysis. In summary, this study provides insights into the application of different types of food waste under complex conditions in biorefineries and the utilisation of their hydrolysates via in-depth metabolite analysis.

Feasibility Study on Wastewater Treatment and Production of Livestock Feed by Azolla Pinnata

of water is a major threat we face today. Increased population and industrialization are the common factors that fasten the water pollution rate. Here pollution due to Canteen waste water is taken into account and a solution to it by a modern cheapest method known as phytoremediation is studied here. It is the use of plants to remove pollutants from waste water. This treatment method is ecologically sound, economically viable, and has a low capital cost Here Azolla pinnata plant is used to find the feasibility of phytoremediation over canteen waste water. Parameters like pH, Turbidity, COD, DO and BOD was analyzed before and after treatment. Here experiments are conducted to assess the effectiveness of the phytoremediation technique using Azolla pinnata plant over Canteen waste water. The optimum conditions for better performance of Azolla pinnata in treating waste water is identified.ie, Optimum contact time, and Optimum dilution. The phytoremediation system is also compared with a blank of Canteen waste water. Here blank is set up to study the effect of time on the degradation of contaminants. The amount of production of Azolla pinnata at the end of treatment is taken into account and can be utilized for livestock feed.

Modeling methane yield potential and analysis of anaerobic co-digestion using mixed feedstock

The growing demand for sustainable and renewable energy sources has spurred interest in anaerobic co-digestion utilization as a promising technology for biogas production. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the potential of methane yield and the analysis of anaerobic co-digestion using a mixture of diverse organic feedstock, including food waste, cow dung, canteen waste, chicken manure, and water. The research involved rigorous modeling and analysis of the co-digestion process, aiming to optimize biogas production while assessing its economic feasibility. The anaerobic digester's mixed feedstock is examined to understand its synergistic effects on methane generation. Subsequently, a series of anaerobic digestion simulations is conducted under various temperature conditions to evaluate the methane yield potential. The result demonstrates that more than 97% of biogas production capacity is achievable under thermophilic and mesophilic operating conditions compared to ambient conditions. Further economic incentive analysis suggests that more than 768 kWh of electricity production is obtainable through ambient operating conditions.

Identification of Bacteria in Two Food Waste Black Soldier Fly Larvae Rearing Residues.

Significant economic, environmental, and social impacts are associated with the avoidable disposal of foods worldwide. Mass-rearing of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae using organic wastes and food- and agro-industry side products is promising for recycling resources within the food system. One current challenge of this approach is ensuring a reliable and high conversion performance of larvae with inherently variable substrates. Research has been devoted to increasing rearing performance by optimizing substrate nutrient contents and ratios, while the potential of the substrate and larval gut microbiota to increase rearing performance remains untapped. Since previous research has focused on gut microbiota, here, we describe bacterial dynamics in the residue (i.e., the mixture of frass and substrate) of black soldier fly larvae reared on two food wastes (i.e., canteen and household waste). To identify members of the substrate and residue microbiota, potentially associated with rearing performance, bacterial dynamics were also studied in the canteen waste without larvae, and after inactivation by irradiation of the initial microbiota in canteen waste. The food waste substrates had similar microbiota; both were dominated by common lactic acid bacteria. Inactivation of the canteen waste microbiota, which was dominated by Leuconostoc, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus, decreased the levels of all rearing performance indicators by 31–46% relative to canteen waste with the native microbiota. In both food waste substrates, larval rearing decreased the bacterial richness and changed the physicochemical residue properties and composition over the rearing period of 12 days, and typical members of the larval intestinal microbiota (i.e., Providencia, Dysgonomonas, Morganella, and Proteus) became more abundant, suggesting their transfer into the residue through excretions. Future studies should isolate members of these taxa and elucidate their true potential to influence black soldier fly mass-rearing performance.

SAnaerobic co - digestion of canteen waste with cattle manure for methane production

The growth of world population and increasing of living standards have enhancing apparel utilization, and the production of canteen wastes. Canteen waste (CW), Cattle manure (CM) and the combination of CW and CM is anaerobically digested. The performance of codigestion with CW and CM were investigate the generation of methane from laboratory scale mini digester with a volume of 25 L is developed and experiments is conducted for a retention time of 40 days. The cattle manure is biomass slurry used as a co-substrate with CW. Maximum biogas and methane generation in 32nd day 0.33 m3, 36% respectively. While adding NaOH solution the alkalinity levels are reduced and enhance the biogas, methane percentage during the digestion. The codigestion of CW and CM is best method of produce methane and biogas.

Analisis Air Buangan Kantin di Kampus II Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya

Canteen is a producer of domestic liquid waste that has the potential to cause pollution. Likewise with the student canteen, it has the potential to produce waste that causes environmental pollution if it is not treated properly. The use of Montecarlo software in this study is to support quantitative analysis in predicting potential pollution from Ubhara canteen waste with Crystall ball prediction. The results of laboratory analysis in the form COD, BOD dan TSS, showed that the quality of the canteen waste water did not meet the requirements for wastewater quality standard based on Ministry of Environment Decree No. 112 of 2003. Supported by the results of CB Predictor simulations showing the potential of pollution of the Ubhara canteen waste water to the environment continues to increase significantly, also seen from the Double Exponential Smoothing Method, producing MAD (Mean Absolute Deviation) 170.82, Theil's U 0.9951, and Confidence Interval Lower 5% and Upper 99.5%.

Evaluation of an Alimentary Education Intervention on School Canteen Waste at a Primary School in Bari, Italy

The “Love Food, Not Waste” project was conducted to train students on good food choices and evaluate food waste in school canteens. Teachers, parents and students were surveyed before and after training. Weights of both the served and wasted food were recorded for one week both before the educational intervention in February 2019 and after the educational intervention in March 2019, using the same menu. Students completed a food satisfaction questionnaire on the days the data were collected. For the first dish, the mean wastes per school were 1199 g before training and 1054 g after training. For the second dish, the mean wastes per school were 246 g before training and 220 g after training. For the side course, the means wastes per school were 663 g before training and 747 g after training. The results did not significantly differ among weeks or schools. Less food was wasted when boys judged the food’s general aspects like smell, taste and appearance as positive; more food was wasted when girls judged these factors as negative. Food waste monitoring is mandatory but does not always occur. Analyzing food waste relative to students’ food perceptions can help determine whether educational interventions can help reduce waste. Students’ satisfaction must also be considered.

The lab-scale and thermogravimetric analysis of the catalytic and non-catalytic co-pyrolysis of oak and canteen waste mixture

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process used to produce utilisable materials of various phases. The energy efficiency of the canteen waste pyrolysis can be increased with the addition of oak, so a 2:1 mixture of oak and canteen waste was pyrolysed. To examine the efficiency of catalysts on the co-pyrolysis, the mixture was pyrolysed with and without catalysts. The catalysts used were calcined dolomite, calcined zeolite and NaCl, in 5 wt%. The process was examined with laboratory experiments and thermogravimetric (TG) method. The catalysts increased the base material conversion and gas yield. There was no significant change in the H2/CO ratio. The high heating value of the samples with NaCl and calcined dolomite significantly improved. The residual carbon of the samples with catalysts decreased, compared to the original mixture. The effects of calcined zeolite and NaCl can be observed at low temperatures but the effects of calcined dolomite appear at 650°C.

Biomethanation using canteen and silk industry waste

This research is based on the bio digestion of organic waste generated from canteen waste and silk industry waste. The process of bio gasification is one which converts organic waste into carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. In this research work, food wastes from Rajarajeswari College of Engineering are collected from college and hostel canteens, having separate mess, daily a large volume of waste from kitchen is generated, these wastes can be utilized as a resource. Biogas production required anaerobic digestion. This research work is to provide the method of processing food waste to generate bio-fuel which will be more eco friendly and cost effective. A premium quality renewable fuel is generated from kitchen waste which reduces carbon dioxide and methane emissions. In general, setting up of Biogas reactor in campus will be beneficial. Food wastes from hostel and canteens of RRCE serves as a feedstock for reactor which shoots up the anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. Anaerobic digestion is a biological process with microbial activity to generate biogas consisting of carbon dioxide and methane. But any experimentation requires complete knowledge and information regarding component characteristics and its quantity in the bio gas produced. Continuous feed digester requires maintaining the neutral pH and alkalinity. The rate production can be determined at laboratory scale by using simple digester. Biogas can be used as a source of energy and also for various other purposes. A combination of these mixed Inoculum was used for biogas production at room temperature in laboratory (small scale) reactor (50L capacity). In our study, the production of biogas and methane is done from the food wastes and silk industry wastes and determined in laboratory with the simple digesters.

The lab-scale and thermogravimetric analysis of the catalytic and non-catalytic co-pyrolysis of oak and canteen waste mixture

The lab-scale and thermogravimetric analysis of the catalytic and non-catalytic co-pyrolysis of oak and canteen waste mixture

Biowaste treatment with black soldier fly larvae: Increasing performance through the formulation of biowastes based on protein and carbohydrates

A key challenge for black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) treatment is its variable reliability and efficiency when applied to different biowastes. Similar to other biowaste treatment technologies, co-conversion could compensate for variability in the composition of biowastes. Using detailed nutrient analyses, this study assessed whether mixing biowastes to similar protein and non-fibre carbohydrate (NFC) contents increased the performance and reduced the variability of BSFL treatment in comparison to the treatment of individual wastes. The biowastes examined were mill by-products, human faeces, poultry slaughterhouse waste, cow manure, and canteen waste. Biowaste formulations had a protein-to-NFC ratio of 1:1, a protein content of 14–19%, and a NFC content of 13–15% (dry mass). Performance parameters that were assessed included survival and bioconversion rate, waste reduction, and waste conversion and protein conversion efficiency. In comparison to poultry feed (benchmark), vegetable canteen waste showed the best performance and cow manure performed worst. Formulations showed significantly improved performance and lower variability in comparison to the individual wastes. However, variability in performance was higher than expected for the formulations. One reason for this variability could be different fibre and lipid contents, which correlated with the performance results of the formulations. Overall, this research provides baseline knowledge and guidance on how BSFL treatment facilities may systematically operate using biowastes of varying types and compositions.

Waste Recycling: Utilization of canteen(kitchen) waste and garden waste in vermicomposting

Waste Recycling: Utilization of canteen(kitchen) waste and garden waste in vermicomposting

The pyrolysis of canteen waste and oak mixtures in various ratios

ABSTRACTBatch pyrolysis experiments of canteen waste and oak wood mixtures in various weight ratios were carried out, and the quantities of the products were determined. The experiments included the analysis of the elemental composition, the ash and moisture content and the high heating value of the base materials and the pyrolysis coke, and the particle size distribution and specific surface of the ground coke. The produced syngas, the kinetics of gas production and its changes over time, and the high heating value of the gas were determined.