Wastage Rates Research Articles

Optimization of vegetable commodity replenishment and sales strategy based on time series model and multiple linear regression model

Vegetable commodities have a short freshness period and their quality can change from good to bad. So the study of automatic pricing and replenishment decision of vegetable commodities is of great significance for the superstore itself. In this paper, we first discuss the total sales volume of each vegetable category (cost-plus pricing by single product selling price, wholesale selling price and wastage rate), and use the construction of multiple linear regression model to discuss the relationship between the total sales volume and the above three indicators. Next, the least squares estimation algorithm and Matlab were used to simulate and analyse the correlation between the cauliflower and foliage categories. In order to formulate the total daily replenishment and pricing strategy for the vegetable category in the coming week, a time series model was built to predict the total sales volume for the next 7 days by using 30 days of data changes. Finally, a moving average method is used to forecast the total daily replenishment amount, which maximises the supermarket's profitability.

Vegetable Pricing and Restocking with Markov Models

The freshness period of most vegetables in fresh produce superstores is relatively short, thus solving the vegetable replenishment and pricing decision problem is of practical significance. In order to make the best decision on vegetable commodity replenishment and pricing, this paper firstly fits a linear fit to the total sales volume and cost-plus pricing. Secondly, an optimisation model is established with maximum revenue as the objective function, cost-plus pricing and inbound unit price as the decision variables, and replenishment volume equal to sales volume as the constraint after considering the wastage rate. Finally, cost-plus pricing and in-stock unit price are predicted using cubic exponential smoothing.The utilization of Markov models allows for short-term forecasting based on a limited amount of recent data and possesses generality.

Automatic Pricing and Replenishment Decision for Vegetable Products based on Planning Model and Regression Algorithm

Based on the distribution data of this superstore, this study establishes a planning model to help the superstore make replenishment and pricing decisions for vegetable goods to obtain higher profits. First, the mapping function is used to correspond the vegetable number to the vegetable name, wholesale price, and wastage rate, and the sales data are treated as outliers. Pearson correlation analysis was utilized to explore the interrelationship between the sales volume of each vegetable category and a single product, indicating a correlation between the total sales volume of different categories of vegetables. Then, based on the regression analysis to study the relationship between the total sales volume of each vegetable category and cost-plus pricing, a planning model was established to solve the total daily replenishment and pricing strategy of each vegetable category. Finally, with profit maximization as the objective function, a planning model is developed to solve the single-item replenishment quantity and pricing strategy for a single day. This study develops better replenishment and pricing strategies for superstores.

Determinants of municipal‐level household food waste

AbstractThis research investigates the long‐run determinants of per capita food waste, using a monthly time series dataset collected from the Taipei City Food Scraps Recycling Program, covering a span of 19 years. In addition, this research introduces a new proxy for the food wastage rate, gauged by the ratio of edible‐to‐inedible food scraps. The results of time‐series cointegration analysis show that per capita edible food scraps and socioeconomic factors are bound together over the long run. Specifically, per capita edible food waste displays a positive co‐movement with food price, the working‐age share, and household size, while exhibiting a negative co‐movement with the old‐age share. This insight empowers policymakers with the ability to foresee and tackle the food waste problem by acting on the municipality's demographic and economic structural change. Our analysis complements the existing studies that depend on cross‐sectional individual‐level data by adopting a long‐run municipal‐level time series perspective. [EconLit Citations: Q11, Q13, Q18, D1].

Multiobjective particles swarm optimization and multicriteria decision making of improved cumene production process including economic, environmental, and safety criteria

AbstractCumene is one of the five chemicals with the highest production in the world. In this work, the design by Flegiel was improved to increase the production rate of the cumene process by adding a trans‐alkylation reactor, then multi‐objective optimization (MOO) using the particles swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to improve the process design. Furthermore, seven multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM) methods for selecting an optimal solution from the Pareto‐optimal front related to two MOO problems were performed. In this optimization, conflicting objectives such as total capital cost (TCC), energy cost, wastage rate, and safety target are simultaneously minimized in the format of trade‐offs. Finally, the results of this work were compared with those reported designs. The optimal solution chosen by MCDM methods is at TCC = 5589, damage index (DI) = 0.044, and material loss = 0.0005.

Optimizing electronic blood ordering and supporting administration workflows to improve blood utilization in the pediatric hospital setting.

Red blood cell wastage occurs when blood is discarded rather than transfused, and ineffective ordering results in unnecessary crossmatch procedures. We describe how a multimodal approach to redesigning electronic ordering tools improved blood utilization in a pediatric inpatient setting and how using innovative application of time series data analysis provides insights into intervention effectiveness, which can guide future process improvement cycles. A multidisciplinary team used best practices and Toyota Production System methodology to redesign electronic blood ordering and improve administration processes. We analyzed crossmatch to transfusion ratio and red blood cell wastage time series data extracted from our laboratory information system and electronic health record. We used changepoint analysis to identify statistically discernible breaks in each time series, compatible with known interventions. We performed causal impact analysis on red blood cell wastage time series data to estimate blood wastage avoided due to the interventions. Changepoint analysis estimated an 11% decrease in crossmatch to transfusion ratio and a 77% decrease in red blood cell monthly wastage rate during the intervention period. Causal impact analysis estimated a 61% reduction in expected wastage compared to the scenario if the interventions had not occurred. Our results show that electronic health record design is an important factor in reducing waste and preventing unnecessary crossmatching, and that time series analysis can be a useful tool for evaluating the long-term impact of each stage of intervention in a longitudinal process redesign effort for the purpose of effectively targeting future improvement efforts.

Automatic Pricing and Replenishment Strategy for Vegetable Products Based on Time-Series Analysis and BP Neural Fitting

To reduce the waste of vegetables and guarantee revenues for supermarkets, this paper explores the construction of a comprehensive optimization model to help the supermarket select the specific suitable replenishment scheme and pricing strategy. This sets the bedrock for it to both gain the maximum revenue and timely supply various categories of vegetables that the market demands. The expectation for further relevant research to better complete the model is also mentioned. First, the attached data were preprocessed, and no missing values and outliers were detected. Consequently, the data of multiple forms was merged, and data related to categories of vegetables was counted. In response to Question 1, descriptive statistics were conducted on different individual items and categories of vegetables. Sales volumes of categories of vegetables were visualized through sales volume statistical graphs, profit line graphs, and quarterly sales change graphs. Following, the sales volumes were verified to have satisfied the conditions for calculating the Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and heat maps were drawn for correlation analysis. For individual items, hierarchical clustering was carried out with indicators, such as sales volume, unit price, number of purchases, and wastage rate. The basis of categorization of each category of vegetable was also explored. For Question 2, average pricing was used to replace cost-plus pricing first. Then, BP Neural Net Fitting was leveraged to analyze the relation between total sales volume and average pricing of different vegetable categories. The average wholesale price of the next seven days of each vegetable category was predicted with ARIMA Model, in order to gain the profit of different categories. Finally, a nonlinear objective planning model to achieve maximum benefit for the supermarket was constructed. Corresponding constraints were given to propose a reasonable total replenishment and pricing strategy for each vegetable category. In solving Question 3, constraints were added based on the nonlinear objective planning model in Question 2, and the prediction model was optimized. In the case of meeting market demand, the replenishment volume and pricing strategy for individual items on July 1, 2023, were proposed based on a combination of factors, as a way to maximize the benefits for the supermarket.

Impingement wastage experiment with SUS 316 in a printed circuit steam generator

The sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) is one of the Gen-IV reactors with the most operating experience accumulated. Although the technology level is the most mature among the Gen-IV reactors, there is still a safety problem that has not been solved, which is the sodium-water reaction. Since sodium and water are separated only by a heat transfer tube with a thickness of only a few mm, there is inherently a risk of a sodium-water reaction (SWR) accident in the SFR. In this study, it is attempted to quantitatively evaluate the resistance of SWR accidents by replacing the shell and tube steam generator with printed circuit steam generator (PCSG) as a method to mitigate the SWR accident. To do this, a CATS-S (Compact Accident Tolerance Steam Generator-SWR) facility was designed and built. And for the quantitative evaluation of accident resistance, a methodology for measuring the impingement wastage rate was established. As a result of this research, the impingement wastage rate caused by SWR generated in a PCSG was measured first time. It was confirmed that the impingement wastage phenomenon was suppressed in the PCSG, and the accident resistance was higher than that of the SWR through comparison with the experimental results performed in the existing shell and tube steam generator. In conclusion, a PCSG is more resistant to impingement wastage as a result of the SWR accident than existing shell and tube steam generators, and it is estimated that a PCSG can mitigate SWR accidents, an inherent problem of SFR.

Medicines Wastage and Its Contributing Factors in Public Health Facilities of South Gondar Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia.

In developing countries like Ethiopia, medicines wastage becomes a major healthcare system challenge. However, data that displayed the type, extent, and contributing factors of medicines wastage were limited. A health facility-based explanatory sequential mixed study was conducted from December 2021 to February 2022. One drug and therapeutics committee (DTC) and one store man per health facility, working during the study period were included for their perception of medicines wastage and possible causes. As key informants, 1 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and 1pharmacy head were also included per facility. In total, 80 participants were included in this study. The quantitative data to determine the magnitude of medicine wastage were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 25. The overall medicines wastage in the three consecutive years was 6.3%. The trend over the three years indicated that medicines wastage is 6.5%, 5.9%, and 6.5% in 2011, 2012, and 2013 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY), respectively. The medicine wastage rate has been increasing nearly by 3% between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. The main sources of wastage of medicines were expiry (99.3%). The perceived reasons for such medicine's wastage were near-expiry medicines (<6 months) being delivered to the health facilities by suppliers, poor communication and coordination with key stakeholders, and the presence of overstocked medicines due to improper forecasting of need in the facilities. There is an excessive rate of medicines wastage which needs immediate mitigation by exchanging nearly expired medicines with other health facilities, communicating with suppliers and even prescribers, using auditable pharmaceutical transactions and services (APTS), providing continuous training, pursuing quality and safetymedicines reuse scheme, implementation of pharmacist waste-reducing activities in all stages of the pharmaceutical supply chain, reducing medication amounts in stock, and through the use of electronic stock management tools.

Vaccine wastage in Ghana, Mozambique, and Pakistan: An assessment of wastage rates for four vaccines and the context, causes, drivers, and knowledge, attitudes and practices for vaccine wastage

Vaccine procurement costs comprise a significant share of immunization program costs in low- and middle-income countries, yet not all procured vaccines are administered. Vaccine wastage occurs due to vial breakage, excessive heat or freezing, expiration, or when not all doses in a multidose vial are used. Better estimates of vaccine wastage rates and their causes could support improved management of vaccine stocks and reduce procurement costs. This study examined aspects of wastage for four vaccines at service delivery points in Ghana (n = 48), Mozambique (n = 36), and Pakistan (n = 46). We used prospective data from daily and monthly vaccine usage data entry forms, along with cross-sectional surveys, and in-depth interviews. The analysis found that estimated monthly proportional open-vial wastage rates for vaccines in single-dose vials (SDV) or in multi-dose vials (MDV) that can be kept refrigerated up to four weeks after opening ranged from 0.08 % to 3 %. For MDV where remaining doses are discarded within six hours after opening, the mean wastage rates ranged from 5 % to 33 %, with rates being highest for measles containing vaccine. Despite national-level guidance to open a vaccine vial even when only one child is present, vaccines in MDV that are discarded within six hours of opening are sometimes offered less frequently than vaccines in SDV or in MDV where remaining doses can be used for up to 4 weeks. This practice can lead to missed opportunities for vaccination. While closed-vial wastage at service delivery points (SDPs) was relatively rare, individual instances can result in large losses, suggesting that monitoring closed-vial wastage should not be neglected. Health workers reported insufficient knowledge of vaccine wastage tracking and reporting methods. Improving reporting forms would facilitate more accurate reporting of all causes of wastage, as would additional training and supportive supervision. Globally, decreasing doses per vial could reduce open-vial wastage.

Carbon emissions from emerging glacier-fed Himalayan lakes

Glacial lakes are rapidly emerging in the Himalayas as glacier mass wastage rates in the region nearly doubled in recent times. Yet, the weathering‑carbon feedbacks in the glacial lakes are poorly constrained limiting our ability to predict how these newly forming and expanding lakes will modulate atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In this study, we quantify the sources and process of carbon cycling in small-sized (≤0.4 km2) glacier-fed Himalayan lakes during summer time and evaluated the role of glacial lakes and streams in the atmospheric carbon budget. We find that glacier-fed Himalayan lakes and streams are expected to emit CO2 up to 1746 ± 139 mg C m−2 d−1 and 1960 ± 176 mg C m−2 d−1, respectively, which is mostly controlled by dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes. Using the glacial-lake inventory database, we estimate that the smaller glacial lakes in the Himalayas have the potential to emit ∼0.1 Tg C yr−1 to the atmosphere. As recent findings suggest that the existing lakes in the “Third Pole” have undergone >45% expansion in an area with a rapid expansion rate of +14.44 km2 yr−1 between 1976 and 2018, we conclude that CO2 emission from these smaller and newly developed Himalayan glacier-fed lakes and streams would be an important emerging component of carbon budgets in the glacierized Himalayan catchments, and its contribution will increase in future. Glacial lakes are emerging worldwide in response to melting glaciers. However, their role in carbon cycling is still underexplored. The lack of direct observational datasets on carbon fluxes, as well as their CO2 feedback mechanisms in glacial catchments has made it challenging to determine the impact of glacier-weathering‑carbon feedbacks on the concentration of atmospheric CO2. Here, we quantify the CO2 emitting potential of glacier-fed lakes and streams. By studying the carbon biogeochemistry of small (≤0.4 km2) glacier-fed Himalayan lakes and streams, we show that small lakes are a significant emitter of atmospheric CO2 controlled by dissolved inorganic carbon. We suggest that CO2 emission from small glacial lakes is an emerging—and not an inert—component of the regional carbon budget. Small glacial-fed Himalayan lakes emit ∼ 0.1 Tg C yr−1 to the atmosphere contributing to the annual carbon budget estimates of glacierized Himalayan catchments.

Non-restrictive open vial policy combined with the home visit vaccinations for improving BCG coverage in a high-incidence outreach region: A model-based cost-effectiveness analysis for Indonesia

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is recommended at birth or in the first week of life to achieve the most beneficial effects in protecting against the most severe type of tuberculosis (TB) disease in children. However, delayed vaccination is commonly reported, especially in outreach or rural areas. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of combining non-restrictive open vial and home visit vaccination strategies in order to increase timely BCG vaccination in a high-incidence outreach setting. We applied a simplified Markov model for the Papua setting, which resembled a high-incidence outreach setting in Indonesia, to assess the cost-effectiveness of these strategies from a health care and a societal perspective. A moderate increase (75% wastage rate and 25% home vaccination) and a large increase (95% wastage rate and 75% home vaccination) scenario were assessed in the analysis. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) based on the incremental costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained by comparing the two strategies to the base case scenario (35% wastage rate and no home vaccination). The costs per vaccinated child were US$10.25 in the base case scenario, increasing slightly in the moderate (US$10.54) and large increase scenarios (US$12.38). The moderate increase scenario was predicted to prevent 5783 TB-related deaths and 790 TB cases while the large increase scenario predicted the prevention of 9865 TB-related deaths and 1348 TB cases for the entire lifespan of our cohort. From a health care perspective, the ICERs were predicted to be US$288/QALY and US$487/QALY, respectively, for the moderate and large increase scenarios. Using Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) per person as a threshold, both strategies were considered to be cost-effective. We found that the allocation of resources for timely BCG vaccination based on combining home vaccination and a less restrictive open vial strategy could substantially reduce childhood TB cases and TB-related mortality. Although outreach activities are more expensive than vaccination at a health care facility only, these activities proved to be cost-effective. These strategies might also be beneficial in other high-incidence outreach settings.

Evaluating the inventory impact of utilizing low titer platelets in regional hospitals.

As a result of constrained supply, it is sometimes necessary to provide patients with ABO-mismatched platelets. Such practices increase the risk of acute hemolytic transfusion reaction (AHTR). Providing patients with platelets suspended in O plasma having low-titer Anti-A and Anti-B antibodies (LtABO) could reduce the incidence of AHTR. However, natural scarcity limits the number of such units that can be produced. In this paper we present a study to evaluate strategies for deploying LtABO at regional hospitals in Canada. Regional hospitals often experience demand for platelets on an irregular basis. They are, however, required to stock some number of platelets (typically one A-unit and one O-unit) for emergencies; outdates are common, with discard rates sometimes >>50%. A simulation study was completed to determine the impact of replacing a (1A, 1O) inventory with 2 or 3 units of LtABO at regional hospitals. A significant decreases in wastage and shortage can be expected by replacing a (1A, 1O) inventory policy with 2 units of LtABO. In tested cases, a 2-unit LtABO dominated a (1A, 1O) policy, resulting in statistically fewer outdates and instances of shortage. Holding 3 units of LtABO, increases product availability, but results in an increase in outdates when compared to a (1A, 1O) policy. Providing LtABO platelets to smaller, regional hospitals will lower wastage rates and improve patient access to care, when compared to existing (1A, 1O) inventory policies.

Audit-based corrective and preventive actions to reduce wastage of blood components at a single blood center: A quality improvement study.

The rate of discarded blood components or "wastage rate" reflects on the whole process, preparation, and production of blood and its quality control. It is the ratio of blood and blood components discarded to the total number of collections. The discard or unusability of blood products are many, and the ones that can be monitored and regarded as indicators to be improvised on are QC failure rate, transfusion-transmitted infection (TTI) positivity, and component discards (other than TTI), including those that caused transfusion reactions. These were studied over four intervention cycles to see if they could be improved. This was a clinical audit and quality improvement study. The clinical audit was conducted over four cycles over 16 months. Each cycle included three stages wherein the data required for calculating those key performance indicators (KPIs) of the blood center were studied and analyzed, and causes for the poorly performing ones were identified; a corrective plan was drawn and implemented, followed by data collection and interpretation of the same in the next cycle for improvement. The data were compiled using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS version 19 (IBM Corporation, New York, USA). The overall discard rates due to all cumulative causes mentioned were at about 5% at the start of the first cycle. The various factors comprising preparatory, preparation, and the management of inventory and issue were analyzed, and corrective interventions were performed in every cycle. The discard rates were reduced to about 3% by the end of the four cycles. The difference was statistically significant, with a P < 0.05. The implementation of Corrective and preventive action measures can rectify the deviations in KPIs. The blood center director, staff, and doctors should be responsible for maintaining and continuously improving the quality indicators.

Avian influenza vaccine supply chain in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 2021

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is a zoonotic disease that can affect both poultry and humans. Since 2005, the Vietnam government has implemented a national vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of avian influenza (AI). In 2021, the first outbreak of HPAI H5N8 was reported in a chicken farm in Quang Ninh province. To understand the stakeholders linked to the AI campaign, and their roles within the vaccine supply chain, we conducted a cross-sectional study from November 2021–January 2022. We purposively selected 114 participants, including 71 poultry farmers using HPAI vaccines, 16 veterinary drug store owners, 18 commune animal health workers (CAHWs), 8 staff from the Centers for Agricultural Services (ATSCs), and one vaccine distributor who were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire. Three HPAI vaccines (H5N1 clade 1 &amp; 2.3.2.1, H5N1 clade 2.3.4 and H5N1 clade 2.3.2.1b) were used, and they were effective against the locally circulating virus strains. Distributors stored vaccines at the required temperature and transported them in appropriate vehicles. Vaccines remained in the supply chain for 3–5 months within their 12-month shelf-life period. The free government vaccination campaign, implemented by CAHWs, and administered by the ATSCs, reached 61% of small-scale poultry farms with a 1.21% vaccine wastage rate. Large-scale poultry farms followed the national campaign but paid a fee for the vaccines. We recommend expanding the support for AI vaccination to increase the vaccination rate among large-scale poultry farms, selecting higher efficacy seed vaccines, and that smaller dose vaccine vials are available for cost-effective vaccination.

Deadline-aware multi-objective IoT services placement optimization in fog environment using parallel FFD-genetic algorithm

Nowadays, Internet of things has become as an inevitable aspect of humans’ IT-based life. A huge number of geo-distributed IoT enabled devices such as smart phones, smart cameras, health care systems, vehicles, etc. are connected to the Internet and manage users’ applications. The IoT applications are generally time sensitive, so that giving them up to Cloud and receiving the response may violate their required deadline, due to distance between user device and centralized Cloud data center and consequently increasing network latency. Fog environment, as an intermediate layer between Cloud and IoT devices, brings a smaller scales of Cloud capabilities closer to user location. Processing real time applications in Fog layer helps more deadlines to be met. Although Fog computing enhances quality of service parameters, limited resources and power of Fog nodes is a challenge in processing applications. Furthermore, the network latency is still an issue for communications between applications’ services and between user device and Fog node, which seriously threatens deadline condition. Regarding to mentioned points, this paper proposes a 3-partite deadline-aware applications’ services placement optimization model in Fog environment which optimizes total power consumption, total resources wastage, and total network latency, simultaneously. The proposed model prioritizes applications in 3 levels based on their associated deadline, and then the model is solved using a parallel model of first fit decreasing and genetic algorithm combination. Simulations results indicates the superiority of proposed approach against counterpart algorithms in terms of reducing power consumption, resource wastage, network latency, and service rejection rate.

Study on the preparation of Interleukin 8 loaded hydrogel fiber and regulation on recruitment of stem cells

The high wastage rate and low survival rate of seed cells in conventional bone tissue engineering (BTE) are always a challenge for tissue regeneration. Constructing scaffolds that could continuously recruit endogenous stem cells is considered a novel way to promote tissue repair. In this study, a GelMA fiber hydrogel membrane loaded interleukin 8 (IL8) (IL8-GelMA), was prepared via electrostatic spinning technology. Compared with Gelatin fiber, GelMA fiber possessed a smooth morphology with nanoscale diameter and better physical properties including hydrophilicity, elastic modulus, swelling rate and degradation rate. In addition, IL8-GelMA fiber membranes could lead an osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Moreover, the results of chemotaxis experiment demonstrated that both IL8 and IL8-GelMA fiber membranes promote the migration of BMSCs in vitro. These results suggested that IL8-GelMA fiber membranes can be used for cell-free scaffold of bone repair, which can not only recruit endogenous BMSCs, but also promote osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs.

Project S.T.O.P (Stop the Over-ordering of Platelets): An initiative to reduce platelet wastages for pediatric open-heart surgeries

IntroductionDue to a national policy change in the management of unused platelet units from September 2018, there was a drastic increase in the number of platelet units wasted in our institution. MethodsUsing Quality Improvement (QI) tools, platelet wastages from pediatric heart surgeries was identified as a priority area to work on. An intervention based on the creation of ‘Order Sets’ for pediatric open-heart surgeries was implemented, standardizing standby platelet orders based on type of surgery and patient weight. ResultsThis intervention led to a dramatic improvement in the number of platelets ordered on standby, and consequently a decrease in platelet wastage from 47.6% to 16.9% for pediatric open-heart surgeries, without any reported adverse events. ConclusionWith the creation of Order Sets and continuous education, it was possible to eradicate the practice of requesting unnecessary standby platelets for surgeries. This is an effective patient blood management (PBM) strategy resulting in a significant decrease in platelet wastage rate and substantial cost savings.

Magnitude of Medicine Wastage and Perceived Contributing Factors Among Public Health Facilities in Dire-Dawa City Administration, in Mid COVID-19 Pandemic in Ethiopia: Retrospective, Cross-Sectional Study.

World Health Organization refers medication waste as expired, unused, spilled, and contaminated pharmaceutical items, medications, vaccines, and sera. Budget constraints in financing the health care system together with huge amount of wastage and disposal costs of unused medications at LMIC create a serious risk to the economy, health care system and environment. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the rate of medication waste and to identify contributing factors in public health facilities in Dire-Dawa city. An institution-based retrospective, cross-sectional study was supplemented by a qualitative study design from May 10 to June 10, 2021, at 2 public hospitals and 14 health centers. Qualitative data were collected by self-administered questionnaires and 2 years record review. In-depth interviews were used to obtain qualitative data. Excel sheets and SPSS version 20 and thematic analysis were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data. An average medicine wastage rate was 3.07% between 2010 and 2012 EFY, in Dire-Dawa public health facilities that worth 4,048,594.0 ETB. The most wasted class of medication was anti-infectives, accounting for 2,360,330 ETB (58.3%), while tablets 2,615,391 ETB (64.6%). Medical waste has been linked to several issues, including pushing nearly expired medications to healthcare institutions, lack of clinician involvement in medication selection and quantification, rapid changes in treatment regimens, and the existence of overstocked medication shelves. The average rate of medication waste was higher than the allowed level of 2%. The only medications that should be accepted by medical facilities are those that can be used before they expire. All prescribers should receive lists of the drugs that are readily available from the pharmacy department, and clinicians should be involved in the quantification and drug selection processes to increase the effectiveness of the use of medications.

Don't waste that free lettuce! Impact of BOGOF promotions on retail profit and food waste

Buy‐one‐get‐one‐free (BOGOF), a ubiquitous sales promotion scheme by which consumers get two items for the price of one, encourages consumers to buy and waste food. An alternative promotional scheme is one where consumers receive a coupon for a second item available for free at a later time. Our work is motivated by British supermarkets which, facing criticism from lawmakers for running BOGOF promotions on perishables, started a “BOGOF Later” campaign with the claim that it would reduce the amount of waste. Food waste is indeed a very pressing issue, which has not yet been explored in connection to sales promotions. We compare the impact of these promotion schemes on a retailer's profit as well as on the amount of product wasted at the retail and household levels. We consider two possible applications: unexpected high inventory of a fresh product with a short shelflife and excess leftover inventory for an item at the end of its season or product life. We propose a two‐period newsvendor model which captures the sales‐boosting effect of promotions, the postpromotion sales drop due to satiation, the coupon‐redemption behavior, and the increased consumer wastage rate from BOGOF promotions. We obtain analytical comparisons of order quantity, profit, and waste across the different promotion schemes and use numerical experiments to generate further insights. We find that, in general, BOGOF promotions are profitable ways to liquidate inventory. In many instances, the increase in waste at the consumers' homes is offset by the decrease in waste at the retail store. As a result, BOGOF promotions often constitute “win‐win propositions” by simultaneously increasing the retailer's profit and decreasing total waste. Overall, our results paint a more favorable picture of the BOGOF promotion scheme than commonly perceived and suggest that its environmental criticism emanates from a too narrow and too consumer‐centric view of the waste problem.