The “A2UFood Training Kit”: Participatory Workshops to Minimize Food Loss and Waste

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Using Post-Kerbside Organics Treatment Systems to Engage Australian Communities with Pro-Environmental Household Food Waste Behaviours

Dealing with the wicked problem of global food waste and loss is a complex and challenging area. In Australia, increased political will has landed the diversion of domestic food waste from landfill squarely at the feet of local government (councils), often requiring significant change to kerbside collections systems. This paper discusses how post-kerbside household food waste treatment systems can encourage pro-environmental behaviours. To achieve this, current food waste literature is examined against kerbside domestic waste collection measurable outcomes (diversion rates, system uptake and contamination rates). The hypothesis is that specific interventions can establish, or rebuild, community trust, responsibility and pro-environmental behaviours around food waste avoidance and diversion. Two post-kerbside systems—commercial composting and anaerobic digestion—provided the framework. Two themes emerged from the study: (1) the benefits of connecting the community with the interactions of household food waste inputs with post-treatment outputs (compost, soil conditioners, digestates and biogases); and (2) providing engaged communities with pathways for sustainable, pro-environmental actions whilst normalizing correct kerbside food waste recycling for the less engaged (habitual behaviours, knowledge and cooperation). The paper contributes to understanding how councils can connect their communities with the issues of household food waste.

A Review of Organic Waste Treatment Using Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens)

The increase in solid waste generation is caused primarily by the global population growth that resulted in urban sprawl, economic development, and consumerism. Poor waste management has adverse impacts on the environment and human health. The recent years have seen increasing interest in using black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, as an organic waste converter. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) feed voraciously on various types of organic waste, including food wastes, agro-industrial by-products, and chicken and dairy manure, and reduce the initial weight of the organic waste by about 50% in a shorter period than conventional composting. The main components of the BSFL system are the larvero, where the larvae feed and grow, and the fly house, where the adults BSF live and reproduce. It is essential to have a rearing facility that maintains the healthy adult and larval BSF to provide a sufficient and continuous supply of offspring for organic waste treatment. The BSF organic waste processing facility consists of waste pre-processing, BSFL biowaste treatment, the separation of BSFL from the process residue, and larvae and residue refinement into marketable products. BSFL digest the nutrients in the wastes and convert them into beneficial proteins and fats used to produce animal feed, and BSFL residue can be used as an organic fertilizer. This review summarizes the BSFL treatment process to provide an in-depth understanding of the value of its by-products as animal feed and organic fertilizer.

Exploring Greek Citizens’ Circular Thinking on Food Waste Recycling in a Circular Economy—A Survey-Based Investigation

Food waste is one of the biggest global challenges. Thinking and acting for closed-loop cycles for energy and resources recovery is pivotal for meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG 12.3) by 2030. In this paper, the multifaceted problem of food waste and Greece’s national policy of circular economy is briefly given. Greece produces the highest annual per capita food waste output (142 kg) in Europe, indicating that the problem is rather large for the country. The solution to the problem inextricably linked to the implementation of the food waste hierarchy, was investigated through a survey integrating the possibility of energy recovery. The tailored questionnaire sent via e-mails and social media with the goal of identifying a snapshot of Greek citizens’ conceptions and practices regarding the management of their household food waste, and their familiarity with circular economy concepts. Results have shown that most respondents are aware of the problem’s existence, however, without considering it as important, according to 1565 responses gathered and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 program. Greek individuals are eager to recycle their food waste without expecting anything in return, but the majority seek recommendations on how to do it.