Routes to sustainability in public food procurement: An investigation of different models in primary school catering

Increasingly, policymakers are setting ambitious goals for sustainability in public procurement, integrated across different pillars. Such ambitions are apparent in public catering services, where procurement models have been shifting towards greater localisation of supply chains and purchasing of more organically grown food. To date however, few studies have examined empirically what the impacts of different procurement models are across these multiple pillars of sustainability. This research aimed to fill the gap, by measuring and comparing the environmental, economic and nutritional outcomes of different models of school meals procurement. Case studies were undertaken of ten primary school meals services in five European countries, capturing different procurement model types. Results showed carbon emissions ranged from 0.95 kgs CO2e per meal in the lowest case to 2.41 kgs CO2e in the highest case, with adoption of low carbon food waste disposal methods and reduction of the amount of ruminant meat in the menus being the most important actions for lowering emissions. In terms of economic impact, local economic multiplier ratios ranged from 1.59 to 2.46, and although the level of local food sourcing contributed to these ratios, the effect was eclipsed, in some cases, by investment in local catering staff. Meanwhile, implementation of a robust standards regime and improving canteen environment and supervision were the most important actions for nutritional quality and intake. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for integrated, sustainable models of food procurement

Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products : plant food for thought

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data will be made available on request.Minjingu phosphate ore is Tanzania's sole domestic supply of phosphorus (P). The ore contains medium to high concentrations of naturally occurring P2O5 (20–35 %) and relevant concentrations of uranium and rare earth elements (REEs) are also suspected to be present. Currently, neither uranium nor REEs are recovered. They either end up in mine tailings or are spread across agricultural soils with fertilizer products. This work provides a first systematic review of the uranium and REE concentrations that can be expected in the different layers of Minjingu phosphate ore, the way the ore is presently processed, as well as a discussion on alternative processing pathways with uranium/REE recovery. The study analyzed ten distinct Minjingu phosphate ore layers, four mine tailings, and five intermediate and final mineral fertilizer products from the Minjingu mine and processing plant located in northern Tanzania. The results confirm that the uranium concentrations and to a lesser degree, the REE concentrations are indeed elevated if compared to concentrations in other phosphate ores. The study does not identify a significant risk resulting from this. The development of techno-economic solutions for more comprehensive utilization of Minjingu ore is, however, strongly encouraged and suggestions on such processes are provided.The Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) through Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalization (OeAD) and BMBWF/OeAD support through a Ernst Mach Grant.https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/resources-conservation-and-recyclinghj2024Chemical EngineeringChemistrySDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur

Measuring and comparing the carbon footprints of different procurement models for primary school meals: analysis of cases across five European countries

The study presented in this chapter sought to assess the sustainability outcomes of different procurement models for primary school meals services in five European countries. Based on environmental impact analysis, this chapter reports on the size and composition of the carbon footprints of the procurement models and analyses the contributions to overall carbon emissions of the various activities in the supply chains for meals services. It was found that while the transportation of food by suppliers to schools contributed somewhat to overall carbon footprints, other variables have a more significant impact, in particular the amount of meat on the menu and the choice of waste disposal method. The chapter concludes by discussing which actions stakeholders should prioritize to improve the environmental impacts of public food procurement. The research for this chapter was funded under European Union H2020 grant agreement 678024

Rare earth elements and uranium in Minjingu phosphate fertilizer products: Plant food for thought,Resources, Conservation and Recycling

International audienceMinjingu phosphate ore is Tanzania's sole domestic supply of phosphorus (P). The ore contains medium to high concentrations of naturally occurring P2O5 (20–35 %) and relevant concentrations of uranium and rare earth elements (REEs) are also suspected to be present. Currently, neither uranium nor REEs are recovered. They either end up in mine tailings or are spread across agricultural soils with fertilizer products. This work provides a first systematic review of the uranium and REE concentrations that can be expected in the different layers of Minjingu phosphate ore, the way the ore is presently processed, as well as a discussion on alternative processing pathways with uranium/REE recovery. The study analyzed ten distinct Minjingu phosphate ore layers, four mine tailings, and five intermediate and final mineral fertilizer products from the Minjingu mine and processing plant located in northern Tanzania. The results confirm that the uranium concentrations and to a lesser degree, the REE concentrations are indeed elevated if compared to concentrations in other phosphate ores. The study does not identify a significant risk resulting from this. The development of techno-economic solutions for more comprehensive utilization of Minjingu ore is, however, strongly encouraged and suggestions on such processes are provided

Development of a reference material for analysing naturally occurring radioactive material from the steel industry

Accurate measurement of naturally occurring radionuclides in blast furnace slag, a by-product of the steel industry, is required for compliance with building regulations where it is often used as an ingredient in cement. A matrix reference blast furnace slag material has been developed to support traceability in these measurements. Raw material provided by a commercial producer underwent stability and homogeneity testing, as well as characterisation of matrix constituents, to provide a final candidate reference material. The radionuclide content was then determined during a comparison exercise that included 23 laboratories from 14 countries. Participants determined the activity per unit mass for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K using a range of techniques. The consensus values obtained from the power-moderated mean of the reported participant results were used as indicative activity per unit mass values for the three radionuclides: A0(226Ra) = 106.3 (34) Bq·kg−1, A0(232Th) = 130.0 (48) Bq·kg−1 and A0(40K) = 161 (11) Bq·kg−1 (where the number in parentheses is the numerical value of the combined standard uncertainty referred to the corresponding last digits of the quoted result). This exercise helps to address the current shortage of NORM industry reference materials, putting in place infrastructure for production of further reference materials.[Display omitted]•Current availability of reference materials for naturally occurring radioactive material has been expanded upon.•A blast furnace slag reference material has been developed to support the steel industry and regulations regarding its use in building materials.•A comparison exercise of 23 laboratories was used to determine consensus values for the activity per unit mass of selected radionuclides.•Infrastructure has been built for future development of reference materials in support of naturally occurring radioactive materials

Brašno - Kruh '13

The "Flour-Bread '13“ Congress topics were the following: breeding and quality of cereal grains, grain storage and milling technology, analytical and rheological methods, baking technology, improvers and additives, starch and modified starch, extrusion and pasta production, biscuit and pastry products, nutritional quality of cereals, cereal food safety and cereal based functional foods