Waste Mitigation Research Articles

Mitigation of food loss and waste in primary production of a transition economy via stakeholder collaboration: A perspective of independent farmers in Russia

Substantial quantities of food are lost and wasted in primary production. Although research on food loss and waste on farms is emerging, it primarily concerns developed countries. Despite being global agricultural powerhouses, many developing and transition economies are excluded from analysis. This study explores the challenge of food loss and waste in primary production of Russia, a major food producer with a transition economy. Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) with farmers examined the magnitude of food loss and waste on farms, its main causes and approaches to management. The study establishes association between farm specialism and magnitude of food loss and waste. Inadequate storage, unpredictable weather and fluctuations in demand contribute to food loss and waste. The challenge is managed by methods of composting, animal feeding and land-spreading. From the farmers’ viewpoint stakeholder collaboration can aid in reducing food loss and waste on farms. It is however restricted by under-developed industry networks, disinterest of major actors, especially retailers, and lack of trust. To facilitate collaborative work, policy-makers and industry associations should engage various actors of the food supply chain by building capacity, showcasing the benefits of collaboration and providing dedicated financial support. The novelty of this study is in showcasing the importance of policy-makers as facilitators of stakeholder collaboration. This is partially attributed to the Soviet past of transition economies whereby public authorities exerted control over intra- and inter-sectoral interactions. The western standards of stakeholder collaboration for sustainable development are therefore not directly applicable to transition economies and should be modified in line with knowledge of the local context.

Determinants and Prevention Strategies for Household Food Waste: An Exploratory Study in Taiwan.

Given the large amount of food waste coming from households, reducing household food waste is essential to the mitigation of overall food waste and the provision of multi-faceted benefits for both people and the planet. This study identifies factors and management strategies for the reduction of household food waste in the Taiwanese household setting. Using snowball sampling, semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect data from 27 household food providers in Taipei. The research findings identify four critical motivators and four barriers to minimizing household food waste in Taiwan. The most frequently mentioned motivator for the reduction of food waste is a convenient shopping environment, and the most important barrier is lack of knowledge for assessing the edibility of food. Additionally, four major prevention strategies are identified to help reduce household food waste: (1) planned purchase schedule; (2) skills to keep food fresh and longer; (3) understanding family preferences and leftover management, and (4) sharing additional food and co-procurement and cooking. The results of this study not only help improve the understanding and application of Chinese household food waste reduction, but also demonstrate the significance of its socio-cultural impacts in future studies.

COVID-19 and industrial waste mitigation via thermochemical technologies towards a circular economy: A state-of-the-art review

The increasing awareness of waste circular economy has motivated valorization strategies for minimizing resource consumption and waste production in the private sector. With the rise of various industrial wastes and with the emergence of COVID-19 wastes, a sustainable approach is needed to mitigate the growing concern about wastes. Thermochemical treatment technologies in the form of direct combustion, torrefaction, pyrolysis, and gasification have been identified to have vital roles in the value-creation of various waste streams. Moreover, the alignment of thermochemical processes for waste mitigation concerning the circular economy framework needs to be established. Accordingly, a comprehensive review of the different thermochemical treatment options for industrial and the novel COVID-19 medical wastes streams is conducted in this study. This review focuses on highlighting the instrumental role of thermochemical conversion platforms in achieving a circular economy in the industrial sector. Various strategies in waste mitigation through various thermochemical processes such as management, recovery, reduction, and treatment are discussed. The results show that thermochemical technologies are beneficial in addressing the sustainability concerns on mitigating wastes from the industrial sector and wastes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This also includes the current issues faced as well as future perspectives of the thermochemical conversion technologies.

Effect of sewage sludge biochar on the soil nutrient, microbial abundance, and plant biomass: A sustainable approach towards mitigation of solid waste

Soils functions, fertility, and microbial abundance may alter in various ways by the biochar amendments to the soil. This study revealed the way of pyrolysis temperature influences the biochar quality and its addition for improving soil properties. The SS biochar was synthesized via pyrolysis and characterized by SEM and FTIR for studying surface images and chemical functional groups. The biochar upon addition with soil was studied for physiological parameters of plants like seed germination index, root length, shoot length, biomass, metal (loid) analysis of soil, SS and SS biochar, total organic content, C: N ratio, NPK values, etc. Besides, combinations of biochar: soil {1:3 (25% + 75%), 1:1 (50% + 50%), and 3:1 (75% + 25%)} ratios were used for studying the effect of biochar on soil microbial community. The 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis revealed the dominance of phyla: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria that influence the soil nutrient cycle when applied at ratio 1:3. This study highlights the valorization of SS into biochar and studied the effect of biochar augmentation with soil; its impact on soil nutrients, microbial abundance, and plant biomass enhancement. The greener approach also mitigates and helps in the sustainable management of solid wastes, thus reducing GHGs emissions and improves nutrient cycling.

Waste assessment in distribution and marketing logistics of horticultural products: evidence from Brazil

Worldwide, one-third of the food produced is inconsumable due to marketable quality losses. Parallelly, and given the growing world population, levels of waste have become unacceptable. Supply channels play a fundamental role in establishing strategies for food waste mitigation. The objective of this research was to analyze if good operational practices with different dimensions of distribution and commercialization logistics may contribute to reduce fruit and vegetable waste. The studied dimensions were: logistics, operations, technology, trade and management. Several questionnaires were administered to 83 specialized wholesale merchants from a large supply center in Brazil, for lettuce, potato, orange, papaya and tomato. The results indicated that for papaya and potato, low and high waste generation are associated with a greater number of anti-waste actions (p = 0.0071 and p = 0.0469 respectively). For tomato, lettuce and orange, no significant differences for found. These results represent a first approach to understanding the reasons for food waste at wholesale centers. Highlights: Worldwide, one-third of the food produced is inconsumable due to marketable quality losses. In Brazil, about 40 thousand tons of food is wasted per year. Food waste in the fruit and vegetable supply chain is associated with the following dimensions: logistics, operation, technology, trade and management. For papaya and potatoes, low levels of residues are associated with a greater number of anti-waste actions such use of a cold chamber and use of promotional pricing, respectively. For tomato, lettuce and orange, no significant differences was found for high and low levels of waste in relation to the number of actions undertaken in these chains.

Analysis of determinants to mitigate food losses and waste in the developing countries: empirical evidence from Egypt

Annually, the world is losing 1.3 billion tons of food, costing approximately $1 trillion, while emitting 8% of greenhouse gases, and consumes 25% of all agricultural water. More than 45% of the produced food is lost before consumption in Egypt, representing a major obstacle for achieving food security and sustainable agricultural development. Addressing this issue requires identifying the main causes for food losses and interpreting the interrelationships between them. In this study, a multi-stage sampling strategy is adopted to investigate 610 stakeholders including farmers, intermediates, and agro-processors. Twenty-two determinants of food losses and waste (FLW) mitigation are identified and categorized into four categories. The interrelationships between these categories are interpreted by the structural equations modeling (SEM). The results revealed that insufficient infrastructure and shortage of government legalizations are the main determinants for reducing FLW, followed by secondary causes, inadequate marketing systems, improper handling practices, and technological and environmental determinants. The direct and indirect interactions are identified and estimated. This study suggests interventions for reducing the FLW including a participatory, holistic, integrated, and multidimensional strategy considering the entire supply chain. Hence, these results could help policymakers, agro-investors, and international funding donors to design more sustainable intervention strategies for reducing FLW in developing countries, considering cost-effectiveness and simplicity of generalizing to achieve the environmental preservation, sustainable food supply chain, and the sustainable use of the limited resources at the local and global levels.

Present and Future Prospect of Algae: A Potential Candidate for Sustainable Pollution Mitigation

Pollution control and mitigation are critical to protect the ecosystem and make everyone's life safer and healthier. Different pollution mitigation strategies and measures are implemented to remove pollutants, which broadly involve physical, chemical, and biological methods. Biological methods are found to be more sustainable, effective, and eco-friendlier than the other two methods. These methods mainly use microbes like bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants, and their products like enzymes and metabolic products to remove pollutants. Due to their unique photosynthetic ability and simple growth requirements, Algae can be grown using simpler components like CO2, sunlight, and media, making them a potential candidate to be used as a pollution mitigator. Algae can indicate and remove pollutants like CO2, SO2, NO2, and particulate matter from the air; these pollutants and particulate matter are either used for their growth or these are accumulated inside them.. Algal species have shown the efficient removal of heavy metals, organic pollutants, explosives, petroleum contaminants, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and plastics from different water sources. There is a lot of scope in using algae to remove organic and inorganic pollutants in wastewater treatment plants. Algae hold great potential to remove radioactive pollutants from natural resources and involve removal mechanisms like biosorption and bioaccumulation. Algae can be used with different adsorbent materials to develop adsorption systems for the adsorption of radionuclides and heavy metals. This review elucidates different algal species, their cultural conditions, the removal efficiency of different types of pollutants from the air, water, soil, and their role in genetic engineering and the algae's potential for waste mitigation.

Sustainability of Recycling Waste Picker Sustainopreneurs for Prevention and Mitigation of Municipal Solid Waste in Swat

This study assessed the role of waste picker sustainopreneurs (WPS) by examining their recycling contributions in a special case of District Swat, Pakistan. Using a transformative worldview, this study acknowledges their contributions to recycling. The study envisages how entrepreneurial agency works in unanticipated ways where the poorest of the poor enterprise without resources demonstrate unexpected agency to improve the environment. An inductive research design in conjunction with grounded theory was used to analyze data from 37 interviews in three tehsils of District Swat. The recycling sector uses primitive measures, which are completely informal, self-organized, and self-controlled. Surprisingly, we discovered that informal recycling contributes unfavorably to waste, energy, and food (WEF) security due to intermixing and adulteration, as well as acts as a gray channel for illicit practices that have taken advantage of tax amnesty in the area until 2023. The uncontrolled welding of half cut and nose cut car parts has skyrocketed the motorization index and CO2 emissions; however, it has also resulted in alternative sources of livelihoods, as these accidental environmentalists had found modern sources of income. This is similar to low-tech innovation and business creation that takes advantage of tax holidays due to the special status of District Swat. The study highlights the most and least valuable recyclables and identifies the gray channel markets of spare parts, metal recycling, counterfeit products, fuel intermixing, and adulteration. The study contributes by untangling the understanding of a legal gambit of tax amnesty as a critical pre-policy input as well as advocates for rights of invisible stakeholders of waste management in Pakistan.

Dewaterability improvement and environmental risk mitigation of waste activated sludge using peroxymonosulfate activated by zero-valent metals: Fe0 vs. Al0

The stabilization and dewaterability of waste activated sludge (WAS) are essential factors for downstream disposal or reuse. Herein, two types of zero-valent metals, zero-valent iron (Fe0) and zero-valent aluminum (Al0), were compared for their ability to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) during the WAS conditioning process, with the effects of PMS activation by these two metals on WAS dewaterability and the potential environmental risks evaluated. Results showed that compared to Al0/PMS treatment, Fe0/PMS treatment achieved superior WAS dewaterability and reduced operational costs. Using PMS combined with Fe0 and Al0 treatments under optimal conditions, the water content (Wc) of dewatered sludge decreased to 55.7 ± 2.7 wt% and 59.4 ± 1.3 wt%, respectively. Meanwhile, application of the Fe0/PMS treatment system reduced the total annual cost by approximately 33.1%, compared to the Al0/PMS treatment. Analysis of the dewatering mechanism demonstrated that in the Fe0/PMS treatment, Fe3+/Fe2+ flocculation played an important role in the enhancement of WAS dewatering, while sulfate radical (SO4•−) oxidation was the dominant factor for WAS dewaterability improvement in Al0/PMS treatment. The greater enhancement of WAS dewaterability by Fe0/PMS treatment, was mainly attributed to more efficient reduction of hydrophilic extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and an increase in surface charge neutralization. Environmental risk evaluation results indicated that Fe0/PMS and Al0/PMS treatments both effectively alleviated the environmental risks of heavy metals and faecal coliforms in dewatered sludge. Overall, this study proposes a novel perspective for the selection of an optimal PMS activator in sludge treatment.

PROVIDING A SCENARIO OF WASTAGE MITIGATION IN THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BASED ON KAIZEN THEORY IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OMAN

his study aims to provide a scenario of waste mitigation in light of the Kaizen approach for Human Resources Development and Management Departments in the Ministry of Education (MOE)- Oman. It is also set to identify the manifestations and level of waste, from the point of view of the study sample, in these departments. In addition, it focuses on pointing out the differences in the level of waste in those relevant departments in accordance with gender, job level, academic qualification, years of experience, and department. This study proceeded, with the descriptive approach, to determine the manifestations and level of waste and used the scenario method to build the proposed scenario to reduce waste in light of the Kaizen approach to improve the organizational situation in these departments at MOE. The researcher has built an interview tool to form the proposed scenario and developed a questionnaire consisting of 30 items in three areas of waste, namely: Muda Mura and Muri. The questionnaire was utilized to spot the manifestations and level of waste, as well as the point of view of all directors and departments heads of the relevant departments regarding the impact of reducing waste in improving the organizational position of these departments. Moreover, 123 individuals were selected for the sample study. The study concluded that waste in Human Resources Development and Management Departments in the Ministry of Education was of a moderate degree. The results also revealed that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of (α ≤ 0.05) in the waste level of these departments due to the social variable in the study topics as a whole. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences between job titles levels in all topics of the study. The study concluded that a proposed scenario was developed to reduce waste in light of the Kaizen approach, including a number of requirements and components, for Human Resources Development and Management Departments in the Ministry of Education

Incorporating interaction terms in multivariate linear regression for post-event flood waste estimation

Multivariate linear regression methodology has been conceived as a viable technique in flood waste estimation. The fundamental assumption of the conventional flood waste model, independence between input variables, may not work in reality. As an alternative, we evaluated the effectiveness of including interaction terms in flood waste modeling. The secondary objectives include to suggest the strategy in flood waste mitigation and to explore a plausible explanation to the modeling results. In the scheme of model development and assessment, ninety flood cases in South Korea were statistically analyzed. Input variables for regression analysis were selected from available datasets in the national disaster information system and the selected variables were flood damage variables used to quantify the amount of flood waste. According to the results, incorporating the interaction terms improved the estimation accuracy of the model. The single-variable sensitivity analysis revealed that mitigating damage to rivers and croplands would most efficiently reduce potential flood waste generation. The interaction terms appeared to compensate for the over/underestimated waste amounts by single terms, and they explained the nonlinear response of waste generation. Observations made throughout the field survey revealed that the nonlinear and interactive pattern of flood waste generation corresponded to the results from the regression analysis. In a practical aspect, incorporating the interaction terms would be an effective method to enhance the flood waste estimation model without costly works for further variables exploration.

Food loss and waste in food supply chains. A systematic literature review and framework development approach

This study examines the state of the art of the literature in the domain of food loss and waste (FLW) in food supply chains (FSC). The authors used a systematic literature review (SLR) approach to examine and synthesise the findings of the existing literature to identify the key research themes, research gaps and avenues of future research on FLW in FSC. To this end, this SLR considered 152 articles relevant for the review. The authors uncovered the extant literature in the domain by presenting the research profile of the selected studies, along with thematic analysis. The authors identified eight key themes from the extant literature. The themes range from factors responsible for FLW generation to new, emerging areas of research such as digitalisation and food surplus redistribution. The study’s findings will help clarify existing practices in FSC for waste mitigation and act as a foundation for strategic and policy initiatives in this area. The findings indicate that the major factors responsible for FLW include the poor management of perishable food items, stakeholder attitudes, buyer−supplier agreements and supply chain interruptions. Some of the important implications of the study include formal guidelines and policy-level interventions for assisting the accurate quantification of FLW along with an impetus on digitalisation to reduce FLW. The study concludes with the development of a research framework to assist future research in this domain.

Assessment of environmental and economic aspects of household food waste using a new Environmental-Economic Footprint (EN-EC) index: A case study of Daegu, South Korea

While the global food demand has continued to increase, the enormous natural resources required for its production are limited, in addition to the accompanying environmental degradation. Despite all these, food waste generation continues unabated, especially at the household level, further compounding the environmental impacts, economic cost, and food security issues. In this study, granular primary data of edible household food waste using direct-weighing from 218 households in Daegu, South Korea was used to assess the environmental (carbon footprint, and water footprint) and economic (wasted cost) impacts associated with their wastage. For the first time, the Environmental-Economic (EN-EC) Footprint index is proposed as a single indicator for environmental and economic impacts to assess the hotspot food waste products among the selected 42 major food waste items. This study presents that the selected food products had a significant contribution to an average edible food waste generation of 0.73 ± 0.06 kg (per household/day), 0.71 ± 0.05 kg CO2eq of GHG emissions, 0.46 ± 0.04 m3 of water footprint, and 3855.93 ± 527.27 won of economic loss, respectively. Based on the newly developed EN-EC Footprint index, we found that wasted animal-based food products had relatively high environmental and economic losses compared to non-animal-based food products. The findings of this study presented a novel method of estimating combined environmental and economic impacts associated with household food waste, which may further act as convenient guides for the waste management authorities and policymakers in addressing the mitigation of household food waste impacts.

Optimization of fly ash based soil stabilization using secondary admixtures for sustainable road construction

Fly ash, despite being a suitable cement substitute, is only utilized at a low rate in engineering applications, hence not contributing to its current waste mitigation efforts. Under a five-part comprehensive testing program, this study investigated the efficiency of fly ash stabilized soil when combined with secondary additives (enzymes and lime). Part one explored the suitable fly ash and enzyme dosages. Parts two and three assessed the effect of time and lime on enzymatic fly ash stabilized soil, respectively. Part four unveiled the mechanism of stabilization by secondary additives. Part five analyzed the significance and benefits of these additives in pavement stabilization. The study found that the efficiency of fly ash stabilization can be significantly improved when combined with 1% of 1:500 diluted enzyme. Addition of 2% lime has also supplemented with improved load-bearing capacity. Benefits of this research include enhanced fly ash waste mitigation, saving natural resources used as wearing course materials, and development of an alternative solution for pavement stabilization.

Effective policy mix for plastic waste mitigation in India using System Dynamics

Mitigation of plastic waste is a serious concern for policymakers. The present waste management system in India is grossly ineffective, with a significant proportion of mismanaged plastic waste. This paper identifies the effective policy mix to mitigate the plastic waste problem in India using system dynamics modelling. It simulates four major policy interventions - charging disposal fee, provision of recycling subsidies, provision of kerbside recycling facilities and a new intervention - imposing a plastic ban - and studies their relative impacts on the accumulated plastic waste stock under different implementation scenarios and combinations. The findings suggest that while composite combinations of policies offer more effective policy mix than individual policy interventions, a suitable choice of policy mix along with its timing and extent is crucial. Phased implementation of policies has a better impact than the constant rollout of equivalent magnitude. A phased composite mix of the provision of kerbside recycling facilities with either charging disposal fee or provision of recycling subsidies is the most effective policy mix, followed by the phased mix of charging disposal fee and provision of recycling subsidy. The plastic ban has a detrimental impact in the absence of proper enforcement mechanisms and substitutes. The paper presents a reliable roadmap to policymakers for the rollout of the effective policy mix. It contributes to theory-building by providing few novel insights about different policy mix and suggests new research directions.

A Review On The Comparison Between Slow Pyrolysis And Fast Pyrolysis On The Quality Of Lignocellulosic And Lignin-Based Biochar

In recent years, biochar has attracted considerable attention due to its unique characteristics and wide applications in agricultural and environmental areas. Biochar is recognized for its potential role in carbon sequestration, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, soil amendment, bioenergy production and waste mitigation. The current review discusses on the utilization of various lignocellulosic and lignin-based feedstocks for the biochar production. However, the quality of biochar varies among different thermo-conversion technologies due to the differences in their key process parameters and the feedstock composition. This article aims to review two production technologies for lignocellulosic and lignin-based biochar, namely, slow pyrolysis and fast pyrolysis. The effects of feedstock composition (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) and pyrolysis conditions such as temperature and heating rate on the quality of biochar are compared. The relationship between the feedstocks composition, temperature, heating rate of pyrolysis and the quality of biochar are also discussed. Future work would further correlate the effects of feedstock composition and process parameters on the quality of biochar such as surface area and functionality.

IMPACT OF CIRCULAR CONSTRUCTION ON DEMOLITION WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

In recent times due to the Indian economic growth, there is a surge in construction activities. This surge has led to an excess amount of demolition waste that is produced. According to the Building Material Promotion Council, India generates an estimated 150 million tons of C and D waste every year. Some existing initiatives and the significant stakeholders' involvement have created the demolition waste management systems essential in the building’s demolition phase. The research in the C and D and Awareness program for C and D waste that initiated has led to the implementation of some waste management systems in the building's demolition phase. In India, the amount of demolition waste produced is higher than the construction waste produced while constructing buildings. So, it is essential for the demolition waste mitigation plan in the building's demolition phase. The study aims to know circular construction and current demolition waste management performance in the Indian construction industry. Through literature review, demolition waste management systems that are carried out all around the world are collected. The current practices carried out by different stakeholders practicing in India are known through a questionnaire survey. Data interpretation is made using the data collected in the literature review and the questionnaire survey. This research identified the significant benefits, barriers, and motivation factors to implement the waste management system, and proposing any necessary changes. Designer innovation and BIM deconstruction is considered as one of the barrier-breaking innovation in adopting the circular construction.

Application of Visual Project Management to build a pro-sustainability design tool

The article aims to present the application of Visual Project Management in the construction of a pro-sustainability project tool with an emphasis on the mitigation of solid textile waste. This is the Zero Waste Tool for Apparel Design (ZWTAD). The construction of the tool took place in two stages: (I) initially, based on the use of the visual panel of the Orientation Guide for Project Development; and (II), then, under the application of the structural elements (premises, requirements and usability principles) of Visual Project Management. Therefore, methodologically, this article can be understood as applied, descriptive, bibliographic and qualitative research. It is inferred that the development of the ZWTAD can constitute a case of Visual Project Management, however, for now, it is still an incomplete visual model.

Biotechnology for the mitigation of plastic waste from the oceans

In contemporary times, the term “plastic” represents a family of polymers that are synthetically developed and have the property of being deformed without breaking. Since the beginning of its manufacturing at industrial levels, the amount of the world’s plastic production has already risen over 20,000%. Most of the produced plastic ends up having the sea as the end destination and it is known that there are toxic compounds associated with its decomposition that can cause serious problems to the ecosystem and to marine fauna. Biotechnology, as an area of study that integrates several areas of science, is committing to develop methods that may be useful in reversing the impacts that improper disposal of plastic can cause in the environment. The development of biodegradable materials and faster degradation tests with selected microorganisms have been the most effective biotechnological techniques, although they do not yet have a major impact on existing pollution mitigation. This paper will discuss the current accumulation of plastic in the oceans, as well as some of the biotechnological alternatives adopted to reverse the amount of plastic material discarded annually which ends up in the sea.

Recent advances and viability in biofuel production

Alternative for petroleum due to its nontoxic, sulfur-free, biodegradable nature biofuels have been considered. Based on the feedstock, classification of biofuels were discussed. Endorsement of biofuel advancement have been reported from available plant matters consumption. The fossil fuel issues due to toxic carbon dioxide emissions and climate change have a direct link with the particulate matter that has caused severe threat to the environment. The bio-based products such as biodiesel and bio-compressed natural gas (Bio-CNG) can be less expensive and adaptable. Biofuels are increasingly being used in transportation, heat, and power development requiring the need for renewable sources of energy. This review highlights the use of dreck organic matters from aquatic environment and soil supplies for renewable energy production for human requirements, sustaining a clean and healthy environment. Dreck can be harnessed to manufacture bioenergy that would help to mitigate greenhouse gases and preserve the environment. Methane, hydrogen, ethanol, bioelectricity, algal diesel, and butanol, or other forms of fuels provide a renewable supply of bioenergy, which can be created by the biological systems. The waste-to-energy methodologies (thermal plus biochemical) for energy production via agro-residues are covered. The key focus of this study is the recent advances in the area of 'synchronous waste mitigation with energy development' techniques. This review addresses the significance of organic substances for the production of clean and renewable energy, including alternate solutions for non-renewable fuels. The needs for appropriate and renewable alternatives for fossil fuels are discussed.