Quantification of Food Losses and Waste in Peru: A Mass Flow Analysis along the Food Supply Chain

The complexities of decision-making in food waste valorization: A critical review

The efficient utilization of food waste (FW) resources through Food Waste Valorization (FWV) has received increasing attention in recent years. Various decision-making studies have been undertaken to facilitate FWV implementation, such as the studies on decision-making framework and FWV technology assessment. Food waste hierarchy is a widely discussed framework in FW management, but it was found too simplified and does not always contribute positively to environmental sustainability. Moreover, decision-making studies in FWV often focus on specific aspects of the food system and employ distinctive decision-making approaches, making it difficult to compare the results from different studies. Therefore, our literature review is conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of FWV decision-making. This study identifies what decisions are needed, and three levels of decisions are revealed: system-level, FW stream-level, and FWV option-level. The assessment approaches and criteria used to support decision-making in FWV are also collected and analyzed. Building upon these findings, an hourglass model is synthesized to provide a holistic illustration of decision-making in FWV. This study untangles the complexities of FWV decision-making and sheds light on the limitations of current studies. We anticipate this study will make more people realize that FWV is a multidisciplinary issue and requires the collective participation of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and consumers. Such collective engagement is essential to effectively address practical challenges and propel the transition of the current food system toward a more resource-efficient paradigm.

Polymeric Materials Obtained by Extrusion and Injection Molding from Lignocellulosic Agroindustrial Biomass

This review presents the advances in polymeric materials achieved by extrusion and injection molding from lignocellulosic agroindustrial biomass. Biomass, which is derived from agricultural and industrial waste, is a renewable and abundant feedstock that contains mainly cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. To improve the properties and functions of polymeric materials, cellulose is subjected to a variety of modifications. The most common modifications are surface modification, grafting, chemical procedures, and molecule chemical grafting. Injection molding and extrusion technologies are crucial in shaping and manufacturing polymer composites, with precise control over the process and material selection. Furthermore, injection molding involves four phases: plasticization, injection, cooling, and ejection, with a focus on energy efficiency. Fundamental aspects of an injection molding machine, such as the motor, hopper, heating units, nozzle, and clamping unit, are discussed. Extrusion technology, commonly used as a preliminary step to injection molding, presents challenges regarding fiber reinforcement and stress accumulation, while lignin-based polymeric materials are challenging due to their hydrophobicity. The diverse applications of these biodegradable materials include automotive industries, construction, food packaging, and various consumer goods. Polymeric materials are positioned to offer even bigger contributions to sustainable and eco-friendly solutions in the future, as research and development continues.

Scale and Environmental Impacts of Food Loss and Waste in China-A Material Flow Analysis

Evidence of China's food loss and waste (FLW) and its increasing impacts on food security and environmental sustainability is urgently needed to guide policy intervention and avoid unnecessary damage to human health and the environment. This paper estimates the scale of China's FLW in 2019 and assesses the environmental impacts of major food types along the entire food supply chain (FSC) by using a food balance and material flow analysis (MFA) based on existing empirical research. The results show a total FLW of 422.56 Mt which is around 22.37% of total food production (1889.12 Mt). There are also serious environmental impacts on the land footprint (LF), water footprint (WF), and the carbon footprint (CF) estimation (4152.36 × 109 gm2, 613.84 × 106 t CO2e and 506.07 × 109 m3 on average, respectively), most of which are found in foods of animal products, cereals, vegetables and fruit at the stages of consumption, agricultural production, postharvest handling and storage. In addition, the root causes of FLW generation at different levels-micro, meso and macro-were also analyzed. These results will provide significant guidance to researchers and decision-makers on primary data collection and reduction-policy development for China's FLW.

The vulnerability of a centralized food system: An opportunity to improve food security in times of COVID-19-Peru perspective

COVID-19 has had a strong impact on the food supply chain (FSC) in many countries. The objective of this study was to determine the vulnerability of the FSC in a developing country, namely Peru. The main weakness of the FSC is its centralization, and COVID-19 aggravated this deficit in Peru. This prevents its stability on a large scale, especially in rural areas, which suffer from food and nutritional insecurity. In spite of this, the food system was stabilized due to agricultural, livestock and fishing potential of Peru. In addition, the efforts of local producers and informal vendors helped to maintain the availability of food throughout the country. Several examples of short (and decentralized) FSC were described, highlighting their importance for supplying the population in different areas of the country. In addition, they allow for rapid resolution of interruptions such as the current health crisis. Also mentioned are some suggestions for strengthening Peru's FSC such as the use of new technologies, self-production of food and the exploitation of non-conventional food sources. Emphasis is placed on the importance of environmental sustainability of the FSC and of implementing strategies to prevent illness among workers. This study aims to reflect on the importance of having a resilient and flexible FSC. Taking Peru as a model, the information provided is useful to understand how to improve the food system through the intervention of all the agents involved, such as government, academia, industry and the population.

Embedding circularity into the transition towards sustainable agroforestry systems in Peru

Peru is promoting the adoption of agroforestry systems with the aim to halt the deforestation of tropical forests caused by smallholder farmers. However, deficient soil conservation practices and nutrient management are common among the targeted smallholders, hampering the success of this strategy. In this study, we explore the potential of valorizing municipal biowaste as compost to be used as soil amendment in coffee agroforestry systems and in silvopastoral systems. The analysis was concentrated in four Peruvian regions and the most populous city in each of them. For lands with coffee production, it was assumed that 90 kg N ha^-1 (i.e., 50% of the N requirements) should come from compost, while for pastures, the requirement was 40 kg P ha^-1. We found that composting could lead to large greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions compared with the current waste disposal methods (i.e., deep dumping and landfilling), as it only emits 5-10% of the GHG emissions produced with the other methods. Nonetheless, the area of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems that could be fertilized with compost obtained from the main city of each region is limited and insufficient. If all compost were to be used for the coffee agroforestry system, less than 3% of the coffee agroforestry area could be fertilized, while in the case of pastures, only 4% would be attained. Large amounts of compost could be obtained from Lima, the most populated city; however, its transportation to the agroforestry areas would increase compost GHG emissions by 15-60%. Although composting municipal food waste and loss may bring GHG benefits and should be promoted, its use as a fertilizer requires mixing with N-rich sources to improve its nutrient quality.

Strengthening Collaborative Food Waste Prevention in Peru: Towards Responsible Consumption and Production

Inefficient management and handling of organic waste generated by the food service sector is a big global challenge. In addition to the negative environmental impacts of food waste, the effect of the amount of food that is wasted when it is not handled properly is even more alarming. This is particularly when we witness the millions of people who suffer from lack of food and malnutrition. The objective of this research is to examine the situation of organic waste management in food services in the cities of Lima and Tacna in Peru. Using a quantitative methodological approach to waste management, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 67 restaurants in both cities. The survey results suggest that the restaurants do not carry out the separation or reuse of organic waste. Furthermore, the main methods of disposal include providing surpluses to the staff and sending organic waste to the sanitary landfill and slaughterhouses. There is also a lack of awareness and training about the importance of organic waste management. From the restaurants interviewed, although around 60% claimed to segregate them, only 28% measured organic waste using a manual control and 18% indicated that they weighed the waste for management purposes. As a corrective measure for this deficiency, the production of an awareness video was created to improve decision-making and support change.