Stages Of Supply Chain Research Articles

FLBlock: A Sustainable Food Supply Chain Approach Through Federated Learning and Blockchain

Blockchain technology has become a pivotal asset in many industries, particularly Food Supply Chain Management. This technology, renowned for its capacity to preserve data immutably and expedite tracking across the intricate stages of the food supply chain, plays a pivotal role in enhancing transparency across the food industry. We proposed a Blockchain-based Federated Learning model. This model amalgamates the strengths of Blockchain and federated learning within the food supply chain, focusing on sustainable and high-quality food production. Our primary objective is to fortify data security within various facets of the food supply chain, encompassing raw material suppliers, producers, distributors, and consumers. Simultaneously, we strive to enhance the precision of our model, aiming to outperform existing Blockchain-based solutions in terms of accuracy. The proposed model demonstrates superior accuracy compared to existing methods.

4.0 LOJİSTİK VE TEDARİK ZİNCİRİ YÖNETİMİNDE AKILLI TEKNOLOJİLERİN KULLANIMI: AKILLI ELDİVEN ÖRNEĞİ

Logistics 4.0 is the transition period from hardware-oriented logistics to software-oriented logistics. The concept of "smart", which emerged with digital transformation, has made technology-based solutions gain importance. The special value-added services offered by smart logistics positively affect the logistics supply chain and can produce countless solutions to the ever-changing demands of customers. This study was planned to examine the areas of smart glove usage in logistics, their benefits, advantages, disadvantages, and domestic smart glove preference. Since smart gloves are a new technology product, publications on this subject are quite limited. However, it is anticipated that there will be more publications in the future. As a result of a detailed literature review, it has been revealed that smart gloves are used at almost every stage of the logistics supply chain, providing speed, quality, and time savings, reducing costs, and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of companies. The most important feature of new technologies is that they are adapted in line with needs and become indispensable with their ergonomics and ease of use. Turkey produces "smart gloves" and exports the smart products it develops to 15 different countries, including Germany, England, China, the United Arab Emirates, and Poland. Many companies such as MERCEDES-Benz, Renault, TOFAŞ, Bridgestone-Lassa, and Carrefoursa use these gloves in their production and logistics processes. The use of smart gloves will increase in the future and many companies will use them in the logistics and supply chain processes.

Indonesian Coffee Development Path: Production and International Trade

Aims: The objectives of this study are (i) to compare Indonesia's coffee production efficiency among the top five world coffee-producing countries, (ii) to analyze Indonesia's coffee competitiveness against major world coffee producers in the international market, and (iii) to analyze Indonesia's coffee export structure based on unit price of export price to determine profitable differentiation of export destinations.
 Methodology: A descriptive comparative analysis was conducted on coffee productivity (kg/ha) in the major coffee-producing countries and on the export unit price (USD/ton) received by Indonesia and other exporting countries. To reveal the comparative advantage of Indonesian coffee in the global market, Symmetry Revealed Comparative Advantage (RSCA) is employed, and GL-Index is utilized as an analysis tool for export destination differentiation.
 Results: The results of this study are (i) Indonesian coffee production is very low due to various factors, including production techniques that do not apply innovation to increase production, (ii) the composition of production is dominated by Robusta Coffee which is known to get a lower price than Arabica Coffee, (iii) exports are in the form of low-quality products so that they attain a meager unit price even though Indonesian coffee has competitiveness with SRCA> 0, and (iv) GL-Index analysis shows that the most profitable export destinations for Indonesian coffee are to the United States and Australia and New Zealand, while contrary to what has been assumed, exports to West Europe, Northeast Asia and Middle East and North Africa do not show conclusive results while ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is not a profitable export destination.
 Conclusion: Indonesian coffee needs to be improved at various supply chain stages, especially at the production and export levels. Appropriate policies to address the weaknesses of Indonesia's coffee position have the potential to catch up with the existing productivity and export gaps.

Waste Not Want Not? The Environmental Implications of Quick Response and Upcycling

Problem definition: Overproduction is often cited as the fashion industry’s biggest environmental issue, as textile production is notoriously resource intensive and pollutive, and much of the textile produced may end up as “deadstock” fabric or finished goods that do not sell. In this paper, we study two major approaches to address this issue: quick response, whereby finished goods inventory is replenished on demand, and upcycling, whereby deadstock fabric is reused to make new clothes. Proponents of these strategies typically focus on their positive environmental impact in downstream supply chain stages (e.g., finished goods production and waste disposal). Less is known, however, about their impact on upstream activities such as raw material acquisition, which we investigate in this work. Methodology/results: We analyze the effect of quick response and upcycling options on firms’ fabric acquisition and production decisions, as well as firms’ incentives to adopt these strategies. We then assess these strategies’ environmental impact in a life cycle framework. Our results show that quick response—when implemented in isolation—reduces deadstock of finished goods, but could increase the amount of fabric acquired. This not only results in more total deadstock (in both finished goods and fabric form), but also aggravates the environmental burden associated with fabric production in the upstream of the fashion supply chain, and could lead to a worse overall environmental impact for the industry. Upcycling together with quick response could alleviate total deadstock generation, but further increases the firm’s demand for fabric. We analyze the effectiveness of two types of policies—subsidizing quick response/upcycling and banning deadstock destruction—in reducing deadstock and curbing firms’ need for fabric. Managerial implications: Our work highlights a tradeoff between downstream deadstock reduction and upstream fabric acquisition, and suggests that regional policies that aim to reduce local deadstock could often have adverse global impacts. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0040 .

Evaluation of the carbon footprint of HFC and natural refrigerant transport refrigeration units from a life-cycle perspective

In recent years, the temperature-controlled transport sector has experienced a substantial growth, and this trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years. However, as the sector expands, it becomes imperative to address and mitigate the carbon footprint of transport refrigeration systems. The carbon footprint of a refrigeration system comprises both direct emissions from refrigerant leakage and indirect emissions derived from energy consumption.In this study, dynamic numerical simulations are used to evaluate the annual performance of a conventional HFC (R134a) transport refrigeration unit and of a newly developed natural refrigerant (R744) one employed in a multi-drop delivery mission in urban environment. Additionally, a simplified life cycle approach is used to compare the carbon footprint of these cooling units across various stages of the system supply chain, including refrigerant production and recycling, unit manufacturing, operation and disposal.Results show that the R744 unit presents significantly higher COP for high ambient temperatures, while its performance is degraded for low ambient temperatures due to low duty cycle. On annual basis, the R744 unit COP is 27.5 % higher than the R134a one. However, the increased weight of the R744 unit results in significantly higher emissions associated with fuel consumption required to transport the unit weight, leading to slightly higher fuel related emissions (+9.3 %) for the R744 unit.Nevertheless, the high GWP of R134a contributes to substantial direct emissions due to refrigerant leakages, resulting in an overall 31.9 % reduction in the lifetime CO2 equivalent emissions for the R744 unit when considering the total emissions.

The Creation of the Hydrogen Supply Chain Decision Database

In the evolving landscape of sustainable energy, efficient management of the hydrogen supply chain is paramount. This study addressed the critical need for decision-making support in this sector, highlighting the development and potential impact of a comprehensive hydrogen supply chain decision database. Utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study involved the collection and analysis of data across various stages of the hydrogen supply chain. Emphasis was placed on identifying key decision-making factors, integrating diverse data sources, and employing advanced analytical techniques to enhance the database’s utility. The findings revealed significant insights into the hydrogen supply chain, including bottlenecks, efficiency parameters, and potential areas for optimization. The developed database demonstrated its capability to aid in strategic decision making, offering a tool for stakeholders to navigate the complexities of hydrogen supply and distribution. The creation of the hydrogen supply chain decision database marks a step forward in the field, providing a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals. It underscores the necessity of data-driven approaches in optimizing the hydrogen supply chain, potentially contributing to the acceleration of sustainable energy initiatives.

A Secure System for Buying and Verifying the Authenticity of Drugs Using Blockchain Technology

In the healthcare sector, ensuring the safety and legitimacy of drugs is a top priority. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a major problem for the industry, as they not only cause financial losses but also endanger public health and safety. These fake medications are hazardous or inefficient, putting lives at risk. The dissemination of fake medications has not been stopped by the use of conventional techniques for confirming drug legitimacy. This project presents a novel way to improve the security and authenticity of pharmaceutical purchases by utilizing blockchain technology. The key focus of this innovative project is to devise a blockchain-based secure system that will enable drug producers, distributors, and consumers to safely check the legitimacy of pharmaceuticals and track their provenance throughout the supply chain. The utilization of decentralized and immutable properties of blockchain technology makes it possible to create a transparent and impenetrable platform for documenting and confirming drug-related transactions. The blockchain will securely store every stage of the pharmaceutical supply chain, from production to retail, establishing a transparently traceable framework. Implementing a secure blockchain-based system for drug authentication helps effectively build trust within the pharmaceutical supply chain, protect consumers from counterfeit drugs, and make a positive impact on the overall improvement of public health. The transparency and security offered by blockchain technology in drug transactions have the potential to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry, fostering a more reliable environment for drug procurement and distribution.

Aquatic food loss and waste rate in the United States is half of earlier estimates

Food loss and waste (FLW) is a major challenge to food system sustainability, including aquatic foods. We investigated aquatic FLW in the food supply of the United States, the largest importer of aquatic food globally, using primary and secondary data and life cycle methodology. We show that there are significant differences in FLW among species, production technology, origin and stage of supply chain. We estimate total aquatic FLW was 22.7%, which is 43–55% lower than earlier estimates reported in the literature, illustrating the importance of applying a disaggregated approach. Production losses associated with imported food contribute over a quarter of total FLW, and addressing these losses requires multinational efforts to implement interventions along the supply chain. These findings inform prioritization of solutions—including areas of need for innovations, government incentives, policy change, infrastructure and equity.

A Value Modeling Approach for Product Development Processes and Supply Chain Management

This research presents a quantifiable value modeling approach for tracking and optimizing value addition at different stages of the product development process (PDP) and supply chain management (SCM). While there is a vast abundance of papers in the literature harping on the need to maximize the value, especially in lean thinking context, in PDP and SCM, there is a dearth of propositions on how to quantitatively measure and optimize value at each stage of product development and supply chain. This paper presents a multi-dimensional value modeling approach that incorporates parameters and variables from different stages of PDP and SCM by mathematically mapping them on to two macroscopic metrics, namely Product Information Evolution and Risk Reduction. These two metrics are in turn modeled by incorporating value attribute variables such as performance, risk, schedule, cost, form, fit, function and timeliness from different stages of PDP-SCM such as customer needs ideation, product functions, inventory management, logistics management and product delivery. The efficacy of the proposed model was tested by utilizing it to measure value additions at different stages of PDP-SCM as well as the total value addition for an ordinance disposal (OD) robot product family, once developed and supplied using traditional production method and once using lean production method, with the underlying axiom being the lean method will result in higher value. To ensure a fair and accurate comparison, both production methods used the proposed mathematical value model and worked toward maximizing total value using nonlinear programming. The results showed that lean PDP-SCM method added higher value at each of the stages as well as total value when compared to the traditional PDP-SCM method thus establishing the proposed value model as a viable mathematical way to measure value. While the proposed value model passed test of efficacy against the lean axiom, further research is needed to test it against other established axioms to establish it as a robust mathematical way to measure value in PDP-SCM.

Assessment of Commercially Available Hydrogen Supply Chains for Gas-Fired Boilers

Hydrogen energy is a clean and efficient secondary energy source, and hydrogen derived from renewable sources is regarded as the key to achieving a low-carbon clean energy supply. Currently, the hydrogen energy supply chain is still in its development stage and requires a comprehensive comparative analysis of various hydrogen production technologies as well as storage and transportation methods to ensure the optimal application route for hydrogen energy. In this study, GaBi 10 software is used to conduct a comparative and evaluative analysis of the potential environmental impact associated with hydrogen energy application. The life cycle assessment encompasses all stages of the hydrogen supply chain, including production, transportation and utilization. The results indicate that hydrogen production from wind power has the lowest global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP) and photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). Due to the high energy consumption of the liquefaction process, liquid hydrogen transportation is currently associated with the largest carbon emissions among all modes of hydrogen transport. However, if renewable energy sources are utilized to power hydrogen liquefaction, significant reductions in carbon emissions can be achieved. An evaluation of the carbon footprint associated with the completed hydrogen supply chain indicates that hydrogen produced from renewable sources is cost-effective for use in gas-fired boilers from an environmental perspective.

Egg-associated Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis: comparative genomics unveils phylogenetic links, virulence potential, and antimicrobial resistance traits.

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) remains a frequent cause of foodborne illnesses associated with the consumption of contaminated hen eggs. Such a food-pathogen association has been demonstrated epidemiologically, but the molecular basis for this association has not been explored. Comparative genomic analysis was implemented to decipher the phylogenomic characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence potential of eggs-associated SE. Analyzing 1,002 genomes belonging to 841 sequence types of food-isolated SE strains suggests a high genomic similarity within the egg-related lineage, which is phylogenetically close to SE strains isolated from poultry but is different from those isolated from beef. Core genome- and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based phylogeny of 74 SE strains of egg origin showcased two distinct sublineages. Time-scaled phylogeny supported the possibility of a common ancestor of egg-related SE lineages. Additionally, genome mining revealed frequent antibiotic resistance due to the presence of aac(6')-Iaa and mdsAB encoded on the genomes of egg-associated SE strains. For virulence gene profiling, 103-113 virulence determinants were identified in the egg-associated SE, which were comparable to 112 determinants found in human-associated SE, emphasizing the capacity of egg-associated strains to infect humans and cause diseases. The findings of this study proved the genomic similarity of egg-associated SE strains, and these were closely related to poultry strains. The egg-associated strains also harbor virulence genes equivalent to those found in human-associated SE strains. The analysis provided critical insights into the genetic structure, phylogenomics, dynamics of virulence, and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis, circulating in eggs and emphasizing the necessity of implementing anti-Salmonella intervention strategies, starting at the production stage of the poultry supply chain.

Potential Energy and Environmental Footprint Savings from Reducing Food Loss and Waste in Europe: A Scenario-Based Multiregional Input-Output Analysis.

Food loss and waste (FLW) contribute significantly to the global food system's economic and environmental burdens, including substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, resource depletion, and waste management challenges. In alignment with the European Commission's sustainability objectives and U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, this study explores the potential energy and environmental footprint savings achievable by halving FLW in Europe by 2030. Using a multiregional input-output model, we estimated the total global energy and environmental footprint savings across all stages of the food supply chain, considering industry-specific FLW rates and proportion weights. The findings reveal substantial environmental savings across Europe, with aggregate savings potentially reaching 51 Mt CO2e (0.09 t CO2e/p), 4,620 Mm3 (8 m3/p) of blue water, 106,446 km2 (179 m2/p) of cropland, 55,523 km2 (93 m2/p) of grassland, and 0.47 EJ (0.54 TJ/p) of energy. The greatest potential for savings was found in Western Europe, specifically in France, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. However, countries with a lower per capita GDP, such as Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania, also demonstrate significant per capita savings potential, indicating that wealth does not necessarily correlate with higher environmental savings. Agricultural production emerged as the stage with the highest footprint reduction potential for GHG and resource footprints across Europe, while the foodservice and institutional stages offer the greatest energy-saving potential. Geographical disparities underscore the need for region-specific policies. These results challenge the wealth-sustainability correlation and advocate for adaptable policies that transcend national wealth and accommodate regional disparities, underlining the pivotal roles of the agricultural production and consumption stages in footprint savings.

Food Waste in Public Food Service Sector—Surplus and Leftovers

Food waste occurs at various stages of the food supply chain, starting from the production stage on farms to processing, distribution, and consumption. It is an important global problem that has social, environmental, ethical, and economic costs. The present work aims to discuss the differences in waste generated from surpluses or leftovers, the monitoring systems of food waste in public food services, and the good practices to reduce food waste. Besides the accessible knowledge about reducing waste, tonnes of food were daily discarded and wasted. To achieve a sustainable food system, food waste must be reduced significantly. Collaborative efforts are necessary to achieve significant reductions in food waste for achieving SDG 12.3 in public food services. Thus, policies that support or enforce larger implementation of best practices are needed. Knowledge about food waste is important to change attitudes and behaviors toward surplus food and leftovers. Some best practices can include promoting awareness campaigns to educate staff about the impact of food waste and the best practices to reduce it, including information on proper storage, portion control, and meal planning; implementing inventory management systems; donating surplus food via collaboration with food banks and charities; optimizing portion sizes, ensuring they are adequate and manageable for customers, reducing the likelihood of leftover food on the plate; allowing customers to order smaller quantities or share a meal; providing packaging to allow customers take their leftovers home for later consumption. The procedures to be adopted by public food services should provide guidance for the selection of products that can be donated. However, specific temperature requirements depending on the food category should be complied with. This paper enlarges the understanding of surpluses and leftovers and the best practices that could be implemented in public food services to minimize food waste.

Assessing nutritional and economic aspects of food loss and waste in China

Food loss and waste (FLW) has been identified as a significant impediment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Addressing FLW requires comprehensive data to adequately prioritize FLW reduction and evaluate the effectiveness of supply chain interventions. However, the nutritional and economic losses associated with FLW in China are poorly understood. We used multiple indicators to assess FLW in China from nutritional and economic perspectives and conducted a scenario analysis of the benefits of its reduction. The national annual per capita FLW contains sufficient nutrients to provide one person with 66.2 days of a nutritious diet. Daily losses of vitamin K, copper, and vitamin C are particularly high, accounting for more than 74 % of the dietary reference intake (DRI). The economic loss caused by FLW is up to $263.55 billion ($188.48 per capita per year), with vegetables (48.7 %) causing the most losses, followed by meat (21.0 %). From a nutritional-economic perspective, vegetables are most affected by inefficiencies in the food supply chain, followed by meat, grains, and fruits. Additionally, post-harvest handling & storage and consumption are supply chain stages with the greatest potential to reduce FLW in nutritional and economic terms. The findings of this study assist in raising public awareness and supporting decision-making by providing a nutritional and economic loss analysis of FLW. Stakeholder cooperation will be essential to carry out successful policies and practices designed to reduce FLW in China.

Socioeconomic factors of global food loss

A considerable amount of food produced is lost globally. Food loss indicates not only the amount of edible food that humans do not consume but also the waste of resources used in production and distribution, linked with multifold problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic loss. While there has been a growing body of literature about magnitudes and technical solutions to reduce food loss, little is known about how different socioeconomic factors are potentially related to the losses. Here we assess the relationships between various relevant socioeconomic factors and food loss within the early stages of the food supply chain (i.e., farm, harvest, storage, and transport parts of it) using the most comprehensive data available. We found that factors such as high gross national income (GNI) per capita and high employment in agriculture are significantly associated with low food loss. It suggests that income might be invested in technology or infrastructure while labor is still vital to reduce food loss, especially in technology-inferior countries. Other important factors related to low food loss are access to electricity in rural areas and export volume index, although the significance and directions vary in each commodity and food supply stage. Our results provide valuable insights into socioeconomic factors around food loss that are beneficial to formulating relevant policy, especially in countries where substantial food losses in the early stages of the food supply chain considerably risk to food security.

A systematic review of country-specific drivers and barriers to household food waste reduction and prevention.

Food waste is a global challenge that threatens the sustainable development of human societies. Although food waste is produced in all stages of the food supply chain, household food waste is the biggest contributor to the food waste fraction. In this research, we systematically reviewed 54 empirical studies to explore drivers and barriers to household food waste reduction and prevention. Key aspects, such as comprehension and perception of food waste issues, practices and lifestyles, were examined. Our findings suggest that a great understanding of the impact of one's food waste on health, environment and economy directly promotes food waste management. Additionally, the food waste issue is not attributed to a single factor, it may differ varies across countries. The majority of the reviewed literature on household food waste comes from European countries, where similar geographical, economic and cultural characteristics may lead to comparable drivers and barriers. This could be the reason for showing optimistic experience to the respective food waste management interventions. However, the applicability of these findings and interventions to regions beyond Europe are uncertain. Future studies should also be expanded to include regions such as Asia, North America, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean. To support the sustainable management of household food waste, mapping country-specific food waste determinants is crucial in developing easy-to-implement food waste interventions that can specifically address the food waste issue in each country.

Uncertainties affecting the offsite construction supply chain resilience: a systematic literature review

Purpose This paper aims to synthesise the latest literature on supply chain operations of offsite manufacturing in the construction industry to identify and evaluate the uncertainties at each stage of the offsite construction supply chain (OSC-SC) to compile contributions to knowledge and thereby determine the future research directions to improve supply chain resilience (SCR). Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. In total, 99 peer-reviewed journal papers published between 2015 and mid-2022 were shortlisted and analysed through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Findings The bibliometric analysis revealed that the research focusing on supply chain issues and developing best practices in offsite construction adopt case study approaches to investigate the research problems comprehensively. The content analysis revealed the lack of up-to-date knowledge in the construction workforce regarding OSC; low preparedness for the changes brought by the SC uncertainties; the lack of a proper procurement model for OSC; lack of end-to-end visibility of the supply chain to identify uncertainties and lack of national or government standards on OSC-SC, as some of the key problems instigating the identified the uncertainties. Originality/value This study clarifies the current knowledge by systematically presenting uncertainties at each stage of the OSC-SC. Moreover, it provides a framework and proposes that future research should focus specifically on individual/team, organisational, supply chain/network and sector/national/supranational levels to improve SCR.

Development and deployment of a supply-chain digital tool to predict fluid-milk spoilage due to psychrotolerant sporeformers

Psychrotolerant sporeformers pose a challenge to maintaining fluid milk quality. Dynamic temperature changes along the supply chain can favor the germination and growth of these bacteria and lead to fluid milk spoilage. In this study, we aim to expand on our previous work on predicting milk spoilage due to psychrotolerant sporeformers. The key model innovations include (i) the ability to account for changing temperatures along the supply chain, and (ii) a deployed user-friendly interface to allow easy access to the model. Using the frequencies and concentrations of 8 Bacillales subtypes specific to fluid milk collected in New York, the model simulated sporeformer growth in half-gallons of high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurized fluid milk transported from processing facility to retail store and then to consumer. The Monte Carlo simulations predicted that 44.3% of half-gallons of milk were spoiled (defined as having a bacterial concentration > 20,000 cfu/mL, a conservative estimate that represents the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance [PMO] regulatory limit) after 21 d of refrigerated storage at consumer's home. Model validations showed that the model was the most accurate in predicting the mean sporeformer concentration at low temperatures (i.e., at 3 and 4°C; compared with higher temperatures at 6 and 10°C) within the first 21 d of consumer storage, with a root mean square error of 0.29 and 0.34 log10cfu/mL, respectively. Global sensitivity analyses indicated that home storage temperature, facility-to-retail transportation temperature, and initial spore concentration were the 3 most influential factors for predicting milk spoilage on d 21 of shelf-life. What-if scenarios indicated that microfiltration was predicted to be the most effective strategy to reduce spoilage. The implementation of this strategy (assumed to reduce initial spore concentration by 2.2 log10cfu/mL) was predicted to reduce the percentage of spoiled milk by 17.0 percentage points on d 21 of storage and could delay the date by which 50% of half-gallons of milk were spoiled from d 25 to d 35. Overall, the model is readily deployed as a digital tool for assessing fluid milk spoilage along the supply chain and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention strategies, including those that target storage temperatures at different supply chain stages.

Turning food loss and waste into animal feed: A Mexican spatial inventory of potential generation of agro-industrial wastes for livestock feed

It is estimated that 37 % of all food produced in Mexico for human consumption is lost or wasted, while the national dairy herd consumes approximately 455,000 tons of feed annually. This study proposes a method to carry out a national inventory of food losses (FL) from the agro-industry that can replace conventional feed in livestock diets. FL chosen should meet criteria such as documented evidence of its use as livestock feeds, knowledge of existing treatments to transform them into by-product feeds, information on its availability, nutritional composition data, and proximity to dairy farms. The method was applied in Mexico, considering national agricultural statistics data and livestock production statistics at the municipal level. FL estimation was made using the Commission for Environmental Cooperation method, considering the pre-harvest, post-harvest, and processing stages of the agri-food supply chain. The interaction between milk production and FL generation was calculated using the global desirability function and spatially assessed using geographic information systems. Twenty-nine potential “strategic food loss” were identified, including maize, carrots, broccoli, cotton, and potato. The highest opportunities to use FL as by-product feeds are in 52 municipalities, mainly in the West Central region, where the Bajio dairy area is located. This research is the first step toward developing a market for by-product feeds in a circular economy scheme that reduces the environmental impacts and costs in the dairy industry.

Economic and Environmental Viability of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling—Case Study in Two Canadian Regions with Different Energy Mixes

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) pack is the core component of electric vehicles (EVs). As the demand is continuously increasing, it puts a lot of strain on the battery raw material supply chains. Likewise, the large quantity of spent LIBs from different sources will add to the complexity of end-of-life (EoL) management. Battery recycling processing is a potential source of critical cathode precursor materials as an alternative to virgin raw material sourcing. Indeed, metal sulfates (nickel, cobalt, and manganese) and lithium carbonate could be recovered through EoL processing. This study aims to provide an economic and environmental life cycle sustainability assessment of recycled battery materials. This assessment is based on a bottom-up approach considering geographical boundaries and process data inputs. The two sources of critical cathode battery materials, virgin and recycled battery materials, are compared based on economic and environmental indicators. This study identified the province of Quebec in Canada as the geographical boundary where several battery processing plants have been recently announced. The best available recycling process (hydrometallurgy) was selected. For the virgin materials, this study considers the option of importing from other jurisdictions by using global average supply chain values. Furthermore, a comparison of alternative supply chain configurations was performed using a spatially differentiated approach. The main findings of this study are as follows: (i) the environmental credit of recycled cathode active materials (CAMs) is estimated as −6.46 kg CO2e/kg CAM, and (ii) the overall cost and environmental impacts of producing LIB cathode active material from recycled battery materials can be 48% and 54% lower than production from virgin materials, respectively, considering the upstream, midstream, and downstream stages of the CAM supply chain. The main drivers for the reduction in these financial costs and emissions are the local transportation and the hydrometallurgical process. The assessment results provide insights to support the development of appropriate policies and R&D solutions adapted to local considerations as well as offer additional possibilities to improve the design of sustainable supply chains for LIB recycling.