Towards integrating production and consumption to reduce consumer food waste in developed countries

Abstract

Literature analysing reasons for Consumer Food Waste (CFW) revealed that it cannot be reduced to consumer behaviour alone. In fact, CFW should not be conceptualised as the problem but as a symptom of a food system that oversupplies and encourages consumerism. This research focuses on preventing CFW in the United Kingdom (UK), as a representative of a developed country, by improving the traditional food provisioning system to better integrate production and consumption. To achieve this, five stages are identified to design a sustainable product service system (PSS) capable of supporting consumers to better manage their food operations: (1) strategic analysis of current food provisioning system, (2) exploring system level innovations leading to minimisation of CFW, (3) refinement and selection of PSS, (4) designing the most promising PSS from an environmental, economic and social perspective, and (5) evaluating designed PSS. This paper considers the first of these stages, reviews reasons for and existing solutions to CFW, and provides a strategic analysis of the current food provisioning system to identify characteristics that could be exploited within a new PSS. Initial investigations reveal applicability of PSS concept to the food provisioning system and potential for reduction of CFW if core causes are addressed.     

Selection of an appropriate waste-to-energy conversion technology for Dhaka City,Bangladesh

Solid waste disposal poses a significant problem, as it leads to land pollution if openly dumped, water pollution if dumped in low lands and air pollution if burnt. Moreover, the scarcity of land and increase in land prices especially in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh create the problems of developing new landfill sites. Realising the existing and future impacts of waste disposal issues, the analytic hierarchy process model was applied to select an appropriate Waste-to-Energy (WTE) conversion technology for household waste of Dhaka-Mirpur Cantonment area. Three alternatives, namely, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and plasma gasification (PG) technologies and nine criteria under three aspects (technological, environmental and financial) were chosen for comparison. The analysis revealed that PG is the most appropriate WTE conversion technology in the study area. The selected PG technology has a relatively small footprint; it can treat unsorted waste and can produce good-quality synthetic gas without generating extremely toxic by-products.     

A design for EoL approach and metrics to favour closed-loop scenarios for products

Recently, environmentally conscious design and extended producer responsibility have become key aspects for companies that need to develop products that are sustainable along their whole life cycle. Design for End of Life (EoL) is a strategy that aims to reduce landfill waste through the implementation of closed-loop product life cycles. It is important to consider disassembly and EoL scenario management as early as the design phase. For these reasons, this paper presents an approach to help designers in the evaluation and subsequent improvement in product EoL performance. The method is based on four innovative EoL indices that compare different EoL scenarios for each product component. In this way, the designer can modify the product structure or the liaisons to maximise the reuse and remanufacture of components as well as material recycling. The presented case studies confirm the validity of the approach in helping designers during the redesign phase of goods and products to reduce the quantity of materials and industrial wastes sent to landfill.     

农村居民生活垃圾合作治理参与行为研究:基于心理感知和环境干预的分析

在农村生活污染日趋严重的背景下，加快推动合作化治理，引导农村居民选择合适的生活垃圾处理方式，是实现建设“美丽乡村”目标的有效手段。基于湖北省的调查数据，利用Logistic回归探讨心理感知与环境干预对农村居民生活垃圾合作治理参与行为的影响。结果表明：（1）心理感知是影响农村居民生活垃圾合作治理参与行为的重要因素，对环境的容忍程度越低、自身环保意识越强的农村居民参与生活垃圾合作治理的可能性越大；（2）环境处罚制度对农村居民参与生活垃圾合作治理有促进作用；（3）交互效应分析表明，环保政策宣传和环境处罚制度在农村居民自身环保意识对其生活垃圾合作治理参与行为的影响中发挥正向调节作用。政府应加强宣传和引导，切实推动农村居民选择环保的生活垃圾处理方式，以推进农村环境污染治理，进而实现“农村美”的目标。     

城市生活垃圾的生命周期管理

根据国际标准化组织１９９７ 年颁布的ＩＳＯ１４０００ 环境管理体系“生命周期评价—原则与框架”,本文对可持续城市生活垃圾生命周期管理进行研究,指出城市生活垃圾应在环境可持续性、经济可负担性及社会可接受性的原则基础上,通过垃圾的减量化、无害化、资源化和社会化管理,实现城市可持续发展的管理目标     

Measuring the environmental impact of waste flow management in Brazilian apartment buildings

As biodegradable material represents approximately 70% of household waste in Brazil, any strategy to divert appreciable waste quantities from landfills of necessity has to include valorization and recycling of this material. A societal change of attitude is required to perceive this challenge. Experiments in an urban apartment building are described that produced this change of attitude with a success factor of 80%. Divided waste collection was implemented that separated at the source biodegradable from inert material. Correct collection, handling and display procedures were established. Composting of biodegradable material was carried out under the rooftop of the building as an alternative to using it as animal feed. Half of the inert material entered the reverse logistics chain and was also diverted from the landfill. Waste related material flow through the building is completely quantified, food intake and waste production are related, diversion of both biodegradable and inert waste components from the landfill is measured and the composting process is described. The landfill diversion stands at 61%, mass reduction through the composting process is 80% and matured compost is returned to residents for use in flower cages. The system has been operational for two years and stands out as a precedent in successful decentralized household waste management supported by material flow analysis. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

"扩大生产者责任"原则及其在循环经济发展中的作用

循环经济是我国实现“走新型工业化道路”的具体实践模式,是有效协调我国社会进步、经济发展、资源利用与环境保护的重要手段。“扩大生产者责任”（EPR）原则符合循环经济的基本理念,是实现循环型社会的主要政策工具。从“扩大生产者责任”原则的目的和定义入手,指出扩大生产者责任是手段而不是目的。鉴于生产者在产品生命链中的核心作用。扩大生产者责任可以有效地实现废弃产品回收责任在不同利益群体之间的分配,实现产品废弃物回收成本的最小化,从根本上改变现有的生产和生活摸式。     

Analysis of cost–benefit in life-cycle of plastic solid waste: combining waste flow analysis and life cycle cost as a decision support tool to the selection of optimum scenario

Millions of tons of plastic are consumed annually in the world due to its significant characteristics such as durability, flexibility, and low weight. High consumption has made plastic one of the most important municipal solid waste compounds, the quantity of which has increased in recent decades. Plastic solid wastes are known as a threat to the environment, and its efficient management in various aspects such as cost–benefit requires decision-making tools. This study was assessing the cost–benefit of plastic solid waste management by development of an economic model, and definition of different scenarios to change plastic solid waste management status. The results showed that 8971 tons of plastic solid waste were generated annually in the studied city. The plastic solid wastes were finally transferred to either recycling or landfilling site through 5 identified routes. 83 percent of the total recycled plastic solid waste was due to post-separation routes, and only 7.7 percent of the total plastic solid waste was recycled from the source separation route. The economic comparison of scenarios showed that with the aggregation of post-separation routes, the net revenue of plastic solid waste management increases by 334,000 euro per year while increasing the public participation and the ratio of source separation route raises net revenue by 875,000 euro per year, which was the best economic condition among the scenarios. Using life cycle cost method and it’s respected developed economic model truly satisfied the conditions of both, the current plastic solid waste management and the alternative scenarios, and hence can be adopted as a tool for decision-making.

     

Life cycle assessment part 2: current impact assessment practice

Providing our society with goods and services contributes to a wide range of environmental impacts. Waste generation, emissions and the consumption of resources occur at many stages in a product's life cycle-from raw material extraction, energy acquisition, production and manufacturing, use, reuse, recycling, through to ultimate disposal. These all contribute to impacts such as climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, photooxidant formation (smog), eutrophication, acidification, toxicological stress on human health and ecosystems, the depletion of resources and noise-among others. The need exists to address these product-related contributions more holistically and in an integrated manner, providing complimentary insights to those of regulatory/process-oriented methodologies. A previous article (Part 1, Rebitzer et al., 2004) outlined how to define and model a product's life cycle in current practice, as well as the methods and tools that are available for compiling the associated waste, emissions and resource consumption data into a life cycle inventory. This article highlights how practitioners and researchers from many domains have come together to provide indicators for the different impacts attributable to products in the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of life cycle assessment (LCA).     

Research on whole life cycle carbon emission model of typical buildings

Based on the theory of life cycle assessment (LCA), this article analyzes the influence factors on carbon emissions from residential buildings. In the article, the life cycle of residential buildings has been divided into five stages: building materials production period, construction period, operation and maintenance period, demolition period, and solid waste recycle and disposal period. Based on this definition, the authors provide a theoretical model to calculate carbon emissions of residential building life cycle. In particular, the factor of human activities was introduced in the calculation of carbon emissions from the buildings. Furthermore, the authors put forward a model for calculation with the unit of carbon emissions for per-capita living space.     

Recovery and recycling of post-consumer waste materials. Part 1. Generalities and target wastes (paper,cardboard and aluminium cans)

Recycling of post-consumer waste materials is gaining increased interest due to public awareness, legislative promotion and imposition, economic benefits and appropriate technologies being available. The present paper does not deal with municipal solid waste as such, but only with the recyclable constituents. The paper does not aim at presenting recycling process details and/or fundamental research results, but reviews the major recyclables with their reuse potential, recycling technologies used, problems, solutions and potential areas of future research and development. These target recyclables include paper and cardboard, aluminium cans, glass beverage bottles, scrap metal and steel cans, scrap tyres, batteries and household hazardous waste. The present paper sets the overall picture and deals with paper, cardboard and aluminium cans only. A second part of the paper assesses the other target recyclables. The assessment of the waste availability, the existing and currently developed recovery and recycling technologies, and the economically rewarding markets while recycling, stress the technical, economic and environmental importance of this waste management sector. The activities associated with the recovery and recycling of post-consumer wastes require a strong sustainable engineering input at all phases of the treatment, from input quality control, to the selection of the most appropriate technology and the delivery of the recyclables as readily reusable feedstock.     

Environmental impact of polluted city canals — a case study from Colombo,Sri Lanka

The city canal of Colombo, an effluent canal running through the city, was monitored for its nitrogeneous species and toxic trace metal contents. The canal is the dumping ground for municipal garbage, human and animal excreta, organic waste matter, etc. However, nitrate content of the canal water remains low, indicating an incomplete nitrification process. Due to the existing pH and redox conditions, the nitrogen species are present in a chemically reduced form. Since the Pb, Cd, and Zn contents of the canal water are high, industrial contamination is obvious. The environmental impact of such a polluted canal is enhanced by the presence of a large number of drinking water wells in the vicinity of the canal.     

垃圾块体填埋法及其应用前景

分析了垃圾排弃的现状、危害、潜在价值及现有的垃圾处理方法,提出创新垃圾处理方法势在必行。与已有的垃圾处理方法比较,垃圾块体填埋法有自己的特点,以社区为单元的垃圾源头分类投放、收集和预处理,能使垃圾实现分类化处理;通过垃圾中可回收废物的回收利用,能使垃圾最大限度资源化;通过垃圾分类粉碎、脱水、压缩成块体,使垃圾有效地减量化;经过消毒、分类堆砌有助于垃圾填埋场地的分类管理和安全监控,使垃圾处理基本无害化;回收、堆肥、焚烧、填埋,使垃圾处理综合化;填埋场的复垦与开发利用,使垃圾处理环保化。该方法的推广应用,可使垃圾处理无害化、减量化、资源化和市场化目标得以实现。     

家庭食品处理风险行为特征与食源性疾病间相关性研究

借鉴国内外研究成果,结合中国实际界定了引发食源性疾病的家庭食品处理风险行为,并基于10省(区)2 163户家庭的横断面抽样调查数据,以实践理论为指导,运用因子分析和聚类分析方法,实证测度家庭食品处理风险行为特征。以食源性腹泻为研究病例,利用有序多分类Logit回归模型分析了家庭食品处理风险行为特征与食源性疾病之间的关系,确定家庭食品处理的关键风险行为特征与人群特征。结果表明,对应于食品处理安全行为,家庭食品处理风险行为特征主要为食品运输、食品冷藏与剩菜处理不当,厨房清洁用品交叉污染,生熟食品交叉污染,清洁卫生风险,烹调不彻底等七种类型,且生熟食品交叉污染与剩菜处理不当是引发家庭食源性腹泻的最主要风险行为特征,尤其是男性、已婚、年龄较大、家庭人口数较少、受教育程度和职业稳定度较低、以及个人和家庭年收入水平较低的家庭人群。家庭是预防食源性疾病的最后一道防线,政府应致力于与消费者进行风险沟通,提升消费者的责任认知,采用差异化策略改善风险消费者的家庭食品处理习惯,实施抗击食源性疾病战略。     

Short-term dynamics of indoor and outdoor endotoxin exposure: Case of Santiago,Chile, 2012

Indoor and outdoor endotoxin in PM_2.5 was measured for the very first time in Santiago, Chile, in spring 2012. Average endotoxin concentrations were 0.099 and 0.094 [EU/m³] for indoor (N = 44) and outdoor (N = 41) samples, respectively; the indoor–outdoor correlation (log-transformed concentrations) was low: R = − 0.06, 95% CI: (− 0.35 to 0.24), likely owing to outdoor spatial variability.A linear regression model explained 68% of variability in outdoor endotoxins, using as predictors elemental carbon (a proxy of traffic emissions), chlorine (a tracer of marine air masses reaching the city) and relative humidity (a modulator of surface emissions of dust, vegetation and garbage debris). In this study, for the first time a potential source contribution function (PSCF) was applied to outdoor endotoxin measurements. Wind trajectory analysis identified upwind agricultural sources as contributors to the short-term, outdoor endotoxin variability. Our results confirm an association between combustion particles from traffic and outdoor endotoxin concentrations.For indoor endotoxins, a predictive model was developed but it only explained 44% of endotoxin variability; the significant predictors were tracers of indoor PM_2.5 dust (Si, Ca), number of external windows and number of hours with internal doors open. Results suggest that short-term indoor endotoxin variability may be driven by household dust/garbage production and handling. This would explain the modest predictive performance of published models that use answers to household surveys as predictors. One feasible alternative is to increase the sampling period so that household features would arise as significant predictors of long-term airborne endotoxin levels.     

The copper cycles of European countries

A comprehensive technological copper cycle treating a series of life stages (mining and processing, fabrication, utilization, and end of life) has been constructed for sixteen countries on the European continent for the year 1994. In this paper we draw on that information to present country-level copper cycles for a sampling of the countries. We then compare the countries on the basis of their relative and absolute copper production, import/export, usage, recycling, and losses to the environment, and go on to produce per capita assessments of flow and stock changes. Among the results of particular interest are: (1) country-level copper budgets possess features often different from the continental budgets of which they are a part. For example, Europe extracted only slightly more copper from mines than it deposited in landfills, while the mine to landfill flow ratio was about 11:1 in Poland and near zero in the United Kingdom; (2) Germany led all other countries in the group of sixteen in the absolute magnitude of every major copper flow (production, import, export, consumption, and waste generation, and in per capita flows of copper entering use and waste management), while the Benelux countries led all others in per capita flows for all other categories; (3) citizens of essentially all the countries discarded 1–3 kg Cu/year, mostly in obsolete electronics and end-of-life vehicles.     

A comparative study of countries’ responsibilities for carbon dioxide emission in an open economy

In an open economy, embodied carbon dioxide emissions in international trade should be taken into consideration to scientifically define each country’s emissions responsibility. In this study, a multiregional input–output model is constructed to calculate the embodied carbon dioxide emissions of 25 World Trade Organization members, including China, according to the producer–consumer shared responsibility principle. The study indicates that: it is fairer and more efficient to identify each country’s carbon dioxide emissions responsibility according to the shared responsibility principle; China’s producer responsibility is 1.4 times that of the USA, while China’s consumer responsibility is only one-tenth that of the USA; according to the producer responsibility principle, China shoulders the greatest responsibility. According to the producer–consumer shared responsibility principle, China’s responsibility shows a large decrease. Resource endowment, economic development stage, and trade structure account for the abovementioned changes in China’s emissions responsibility.     

户用沼气模式生命周期减排清单与环境效益分析

相对于传统农业活动,以沼气为纽带的生态农业生产具有清洁的能源生产和高度闭环的废物回收处置等明显优势,在全国范围内得到入户推广。本文综合考虑沼气工程建造、使用和综合利用等生命周期过程,分析了典型户用沼气池综合利用各阶段环境节能减排清单,并在此基础上评价其环境效益。结果表明,"猪-沼-稻-果"综合农业利用模式下单位沼气池节能减排效果明显,其中CO2、PM10、CH4和CO净减排量分别达3 060.700kg、19.820kg、12.960kg和75.590kg,总净节能达9 068.4MJ。其中,玉米秸秆、沼液沼渣的利用和燃煤替代对温室效应的减缓明显,畜禽粪便的利用和燃煤的替代减缓了环境酸化以及富营养化过程,而光化学氧化的减缓主要来自玉米秸秆的利用而减少的CO、VOC的排放,沼气工程对人体毒害的减缓主要是来自燃煤替代而减少的SO2和PM10排放。户用沼气利用对各种环境影响均有减缓作用,其中对光化学氧化、富营养化、环境酸化和温室效应的改善最为显著,对于降低能源耗竭、减缓对人体的毒性也起到了较好的作用。     

人口增长、收入水平与城市环境

伴随着我国城镇化进程的不断加快,城市环境污染问题备受关注。本文以城镇居民生活垃圾污染行为为起点,通过比较居民与政府目标函数,首先从理论上做出判断,城镇人口数量增加以及居民生活质量提高均会导致城市生活垃圾数量增长,从而对城市环境产生影响。随后,进一步采取Panel data的分析方法,以我国2004-2008年省级面板数据为样本,从城市生活垃圾污染的角度对我国城镇人口增长、居民收入水平与城市环境间的关系进行计量检验。结果显示:我国城市生活垃圾产生数量分别与城镇人口增长、居民收入水平间存在着长期正向协整关系,即在我国城镇化水平和居民生活质量不断提升的背景下,城市生活垃圾数量的增长以及对城市环境的污染存在着内在必然性;另外,我国城市生活垃圾数量的自发增长对平均增长的偏离逐年下降,可见,存在政策、制度、行为等外生因素抑制我国城市生活垃圾数量的增长。最后,文章从生活垃圾控制和处理的角度,就改善我国城市环境和促进城市环境可持续发展提出了简要的政策建议。