Environmental performance of peruvian waste management systems under a life cycle approach

Peru generated in 2014 a total of 7.5 million metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). Of these, 47 % of residues ended up in open dumpsites and only 21 % were sent to controlled landfills. Efforts must be made to conduct a change from open dumpsites to sanitary landfills, reaching an adequate and sustainable waste management system. This study aims at meeting this challenge by means of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. In particular, the objective of this study is to develop a life cycle model that will allow the estimation of environmental impacts linked to waste landfilling in Peru, and to compare in further studies alternatives to determine a more environmentally sustainable solution. The model is flexible in order to be adapted to the three main geo-climatic regions in Peru: the hyper-arid coast, the Andean Highlands and the Amazon Rainforest. The life cycle model was developed with the EASETECH software, taking into account the phases of construction, operation and end-of-life the Peruvian landfills. The main parameters of this model include waste composition and the characteristics and treatment of the leachate and landfill gas, taking into consideration local parameters such as temperature, humidity and precipitation intensity. The model lays the foundation stone to determine the main hotspots in Peruvian sanitary landfills. This information will allow achieving an adequate and sustainable waste management by proposing improvement measures to help stakeholders in the decision-making process

Combined application of Life Cycle Assessment and linear programming to evaluate food waste-to-food strategies: Seeking for answers in the nexus approach

The great concern regarding food loss (FL) has been studied previously, but in an isolated way, disregarding interdependencies with other areas. This paper aims to go a step further by proposing a new procedure to assess different waste management alternatives based on the nexus approach by means of an integrated Water-Energy-Food-Climate Nexus Index (WEFCNI). The environmental profile of the waste management techniques is determined using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which, in combination with Linear Programming (LP), explores the optimal aggregation of weighting factors that lead to an aggregated nexus index. The management of residues from the anchovy canning industry in Cantabria (Spain) has been used as a case study, considering the three current applied alternatives: (i) valorisation of FL as animal feed in aquaculture (food waste-to-food approach), (ii) incineration of FL with energy recovery, and (iii) landfilling with biogas recovery. The last two considered the use of energy recovered to produce a new aquaculture product (food waste-to-energy-to-food scenarios). The results indicate that incineration is the best performing scenario when the nutritional energy provided by the valorisation alternative is not high enough and the valorisation technology presents the highest water consumption. Therefore, a minimisation in the consumption of natural resources is suggested in order to improve the application of circular economy within the sector. The use of the nexus index as an environmental management tool is extendable to any food system with the aim of facilitating the decision-making process in the development of more sustainable products.The authors thank the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Spanish Government for its financial support via the project GeSAC-Conserva: Sustainable Management of the Cantabrian Anchovies (CTM2013-43539-R) and to Julia Celaya for her technical support. Jara Laso thanks the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spanish Government for its financial support via the research fellowship BES-2014-069368. Pere Fullana and Alba Bala thank the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change. Ian Vázquez-Rowe thanks the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú for financing the Walaya Project

Climate action and food security: Strategies to reduce GHG emissions from food loss and waste in emerging economies

Peru struggles to upgrade its waste management, with landfilling only just overtaking open dumpsters as the main disposal method. Despite the benefits of this transition, including reduced environmental impacts to water and soil, previous studies demonstrated that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may increase if adequate levels of technological sophistication are not implemented. Considering that 58% of municipal solid waste (MSW) is organic, it seems plausible that a relevant portion of emissions can be linked directly to food loss and waste (FLW) management. This study aims to determine the GHG emissions mitigation potential in FLW compared to the current baseline scenario in 24 Peruvian cities, by modelling alternative technologies to treat organic MSW. Life cycle modelling was performed using the waste-LCA software EASETECH. Five treatment scenarios were modelled: i) open dumping; ii) landfilling with no gas treatment; iii) landfilling with landfill gas treatment; iv) landfilling with energy recovery; and, v) anaerobic digestion. GHG emissions of FLW generation proved to be substantially higher than those for FLW treatment. However, if sophisticated technologies are implemented in FLW treatment, an annual reduction of up to 1.56 Mt CO2eq could be attained. Moreover, despite the health and environmental benefits of a transition to optimized diets, in which, for example, meat consumption is reduced and vegetables are boosted, an important increase in FLW and, therefore, an increase in GHG emissions in the treatment phase is shown. However, if certain technologies, such as energy recovery or anaerobic digestion, were implemented, most carbon losses would be avoided.The authors thank Gustavo Larrea-Gallegos for valuable scientific exchange. Ian Vázquez-Rowe wishes to thank the Dirección Académica de Relaciones Internacionales from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) for financial support during his research stay at the Universidad de Cantabria (Spain) and the Dirección General de Investigación from PUCP for financing the Walaya Project. The team at the Universidad de Cantabria thanks the Ceres-Procom Project (CTM2016-76176-C2-1-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE) for financial support. Lesley C. Vázquez is thanked for revising the language of the manuscript

A critical review on food loss and waste quantification approaches: Is there a need to develop alternatives beyond the currently widespread pathways?

In a context of increasing concern regarding food loss and waste (FLW) generation, different attempts have been made to standardize quantification methodologies. On the one hand, an important number of small-scale studies have been published that constitute direct measurement methodologies. On the other hand, the FAO Food Balance Sheets, which aggregate some of the prior studies, provides an indirect metric that has been applied using FLW coefficients in numerous food-related studies. However, to date, no standard methodology has been agreed upon to quantify FLW. This study performs an assessment of 237 studies in the field, aiming to identify existing FLW quantification methodologies, and if there is a need of developing alternative paths. Firstly, a descriptive review was performed. Secondly, an assessment of critical point of views was presented. For this, different critical voices in the scientific literature were retrieved, some of which highlight the high level of uncertainty and a certain degree of opacity in some of the most widespread FLW quantification and assessment reports. In this line, essential elements of quantification are being omitted. Moreover, the focus is being excessively placed on the role of the consumer, compared to the role played by agribusiness and large distribution chains.The authors are grateful for the funding of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the KAIROS-BIOCIR project (PID2019-104925RB) (AEO/FEDER, UE). Dr. Ian Vázquez-Rowe and Dr. Ramzy Kahhat wish to thank the Department of Engineering, as well as the Dirección de Fomento de la Investigación (Project number PI0769) at PUCP, for funding their time dedicated to this study

Climate change mitigation potential of transitioning from open dumpsters in Peru: evaluation of mitigation strategies in critical dumpsites

Waste management is a critical policy towards the reduction of environmental impacts to air, soil and water. Many Latin American countries, however, lack a correct waste management system in many cities and rural areas, leading to the accumulation of unmanaged waste in illegal or unregulated dumpsites. The case of Peru is of interest, as it hosts 5 of the 50 largest dumpsites in the world. An erratic waste management compromises climate actions for Peru to commit with the Paris Agreement, as no correct closure systems are established for these dumpsites. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the contribution of the past and present biodegradable waste produced and disposed of in the most critical open dumpsters to the overall annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Peru using the IPCC model. Thereafter, the climate change mitigation potential of possible dumpsite closure strategies based on a selection of technologies, including economic feasibility, were estimated. Results show that cumulative GHG emissions in 2018 for the 24 critical dumpsites evaluated added up to 704 kt CO2 eq. and a cumulative value of 4.4 Mt CO2 eq. in the period 2019?2028, representing over 40 % of solid waste emissions expected by 2030. Mitigation potentials for these emissions tanged from 91 to 970 kt CO2 eq. in the ten-year period depending on the mitigation strategies adopted. The costs of these strategies are also discussed and are expected to be of utility to complement Peru's waste management commitments in the frame of the Paris Agreement.Jorge Cristóbal acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the “Beatriz Galindo” grant BEAGAL18/00035. Jorge Cristóbal also acknowledges David Cristóbal from Avila Corp for the python modelling and data analysis assistance. This study was partially funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag

Food waste management during the COVID-19 outbreak: a holistic climate, economic and nutritional approach

Improving the food supply chain efficiency has been identified as an essential means to enhance food security, while reducing pressure on natural resources. Adequate food loss and waste (FLW) management has been proposed as an approach to meet these objectives. The main hypothesis of this study is to consider that the "strong fluctuations and short-term changes" on eating habits may have major consequences on potential FLW generation and management, as well as on GHG emissions, all taking into account the nutritional and the economic cost. Due to the exceptional lockdown measures imposed by the Spanish government, as a consequence of the emerging coronavirus disease, COVID-19, food production and consumption systems have undergone significant changes, which must be properly studied in order to propose strategies from the lessons learned. Taking Spain as a case study, the methodological approach included a deep analysis of the inputs and outputs of the Spanish food basket, the supply chain by means of a Material Flow Analysis, as well as an economic and comprehensive nutritional assessment, all under a life cycle thinking approach. The results reveal that during the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown, there was no significant adjustment in overall FLW generation, but a partial reallocation from extra-domestic consumption to households occurred (12% increase in household FLW). Moreover, the economic impact (+11%), GHG emissions (+10%), and the nutritional content (-8%) complete the multivariable impact profile that the COVID-19 outbreak had on FLW generation and management. Accordingly, this study once again highlights that measures aimed at reducing FLW, particularly in the household sector, are critical to make better use of food surpluses and FLW prevention and control, allowing us to confront future unforeseen scenarios.The authors are grateful for the funding of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the CERES-PROCON Project CTM2016-76176 (AEI/FEDER, UE) and the KAIROS-BIOCIR Project PID2019-104925RB (AEO/FEDER, UE)