Variability in commercial and institutional food waste generation and implications for sustainable management systems
Variability in commercial and institutional food waste generation and implications for sustainable management systems
复制标题
商业和机构食物垃圾产生量的变化及其对可持续管理系统的影响
DOI：
10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104622
复制
发表时间：
2020-04-01
影响因子：
13.2
通讯作者：
Chen, Roger B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Armington, William R.;Babbitt, Callie W.;Chen, Roger B.
在垃圾填埋场处理食物垃圾会导致大量温室气体排放和经济和环境资源的损失，促使人们需要替代处理工艺，将废物转化为能源和增值产品。发展使这些过程在经济上可行所需的网络和基础设施取决于需要处理的食物垃圾的数量和特性的高质量信息。传统上，食物浪费产生的估计来自有限的实证研究和理论工具，这些工具预测了不同类型和强度的经济活动将产生的食物浪费量。由此产生的估计是快速的，不需要大量的投资来收集，但只提供预期废物产生的单一静态快照。然而，在现实中，食物浪费会根据季节，地理以及废物产生活动的类型和规模而有所不同。这项研究提供了一个分析这种潜在的变异性，使用经验数据，从商业和机构的食物浪费发生器在纽约州和一个公开的数据库的食物浪费估计。结果显示，该地区57%的食物垃圾来自4%的商业设施。此外，全州发电量每月变化约37%，由于设施位置的集中，不同地区的发电量变化很大。研究结果强调，基于单一静态食物垃圾估计的政策或设施选址决策可能无法捕捉食物垃圾管理的全部复杂性。未来的工作可以改进收集经验数据的共同估计方法和方法，以支持稳健的政策。
Disposing food waste in landfills leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and lost economic and environmental resources, motivating the need for alternative treatment processes to convert waste to energy and value-added products. Developing the networks and infrastructure required to make these processes economically viable depends on high quality information about the volume and characteristics of food waste requiring treatment. Traditionally, food waste generation estimates have come from limited empirical studies and theoretical tools that predict the volume of food waste that will result from different types and intensities of economic activity. Resulting estimations are quick and don't require extensive investment to collect, but only provide single, static snapshots of expected waste generation. In reality, however, food waste would vary depending on the season, geography, and type and magnitude of the waste generating activity. This study provides an analysis of this potential variability using empirical data from commercial and institutional food waste generators in New York State and a publicly available database of food waste estimates. Results show that 57 % of food waste generated within the region comes from only 4 % of commercial facilities. Moreover, statewide generation varies monthly by approximately 37 % and significantly across different regions due to concentrations of facility locations. Study findings underscore how policy or facility siting decisions based on a single, static food waste estimation may not capture the full complexity of food waste management. Future work can improve common estimation approaches and methods for collecting empirical data to support robust policy.