Separate collection and bio waste valorization in the Italian poultry sector by material flow analysis

Poultry meat production and consumption face several challenges under economic, social and environmental perspectives, and increasing concerns are associated with food loss and waste minimization. One of the main issues is related to the absence of a homogeneous and standardized separate collection of bio-waste at country level, which makes chicken bones, skin and food waste valorization a challenging goal. The present research, implementing the material flow analysis to the Italian poultry sector, aims at measuring poultry-related co-products and by-products, exploring food waste, chicken bones and skin and the current trends in the Italian bio-waste separate collection. Then, it discusses alternative separate collection strategies and sustainable consumption habits. Data have been collected according to a research triangulation approach, whereas system boundaries consider slaughterhouse, distribution and final consumption stage. It emerges that more than 1.50 Mt of live animals have been processed to obtain 0.46 Mt of fresh meat and 0.76 Mt of co-products and by-products, of which more than 0.32 Mt are represented by chicken bones and skin. In addition, more than 0.15 Mt of food waste have been recorded. The research adds an extra step towards the identification of awareness campaigns and separate collection strategies at national level

How to measure food loss and waste? A Material Flow Analysis application

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure food loss and waste by material flow analysis (MFA) tool. Applying this methodology, the authors estimate wastage-related losses and discuss opportunities for more circular and sustainable practices in the Italian potato industry. Design/methodology/approach – MFA is applied to two specific typologies as follows: ready-to-eat (chips) and dried potato products produced in Italy. The analysis refers to the year 2017 as the complete dataset useful for this study includes measurements until this year. A bottom-up and top-down mixed approach is applied, and functional unit refers to 1 t of potatoes consumed as final product. Findings – MFA is applied to quantify and qualify material balance associated with 1 t of potatoes consumed as final product. In Italy, in 2017, more than 22,000 t of fresh tubers were lost, including 3,500–4,800 t of starch, equivalent to 52,800–72,600 GJs. Moreover, fewer than 23,000 t of skins and scraps were produced within industrial plants, not available for food but suitable for animal feed (dry skins are an excellent carbohydrates source in cattle and poultry feed), starch industry and bioenergy production (biogas and/or bioethanol). Originality/value – This research is one of the few studies proposing MFA methodology as a tool to measure food waste. This analysis shows its utility in terms of food waste quality/quantity evaluation, supporting both company management and policymakers

Halal Food Sustainability between Certification and Blockchain: A Review

Islam is the second-largest religion on a global scale. All around the world Muslims are estimated to comprise more than 1.9 billion people. Therefore, the demand for Halal commodities is expected to reach a high growth rate: thus, it is crucial to increase its global market’s reliability and traceability. Based on these grounds, the scope of this paper is to assess Halal food sustainability, examining the barriers and opportunities offered by the certification and blockchain tools. To this purpose, the authors carried out an integrative literature review, selecting 54 contributions in the Web of Science platform. Despite several limitations, such as the lack of a standardized framework or universally accepted and reliable certifying authorities, the implementation of blockchain technology has emerged as an interesting instrument to increase the trustworthiness and traceability of Halal foods. This tool could also help the development of protocols and standard procedures, ensuring hygienic and permitted products that may boost food safety and security. Besides, the enhancement of the Halal certification and the blockchain tool, even if several efforts are required in terms of innovation and cooperation by local authorities, industrial associations and leading consumers, could enhance fair trade, ethical business, green animal breeding and environmental economics, and hence sustainable development

Households’ Food Waste Behavior at Local Scale: A Cluster Analysis after the Covid‐19 Lockdown

Abstract: The reduction of food waste, especially in households where more than half of its global quantity is generated, has become an increasing economic, social and environmental concern, and represents one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals within the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. In this context, the Covid‐19 lockdown has significantly changed life, work and food consumption habits all over the world, highlighting food waste as a multi‐sectorial issue. This paper explores current attitudes, perception and behavioral patterns related to food waste reduction at domestic consumption at the local scale (Apulia region, Italy), with the aim of identifying different types of “food wasters”. Through an online questionnaire and the application of a k‐means clustering model, the authors focus on four emerging constructs in terms of food consumption and food waste habits after the Covid‐19 lockdown at household level. Among three theoretical clusters, results have highlighted: (i) the paradox of the “green wasters”, which declared a high level of awareness of the food waste issue but also generates huge amounts of thrown away food; (ii) the “positive unawareness” of the “red wasters”, which have a slight notion of environment and sustainability but waste low quantities of food; (iii) the consistency of the “blue wasters”, which know of the food waste issue and convert theory into practice

Economic Analysis of the Barley Market and Related Uses

Barley is an important cereal worldwide cultivated since about 10,000 years. Barley crop is the fourth most important cereal in the world, after wheat, corn, and rice. It could be a food source for millions of people even though today it is mainly used as animal feed and brewing. So, recently, more than 70% of barley crop has been used for feed; about 21% has been intended to malting, brewing, and distilling industries; lesser than 6% has been consumed as human food. In addition, a growing interest in renewable energy has led to the modest use of barley grain for the production of fuel ethanol. The prominence of barley as food is mainly due to its potentialities in the production of healthy food, as an excellent source of dietary fiber, and a functional food ingredient such as β-glucan. The purpose of this chapter is to carry out an analysis of barley market and to present, in summary, its principal uses

Halal Goods and Services Compliance

Halal is an Arabic word meaning “lawful”or “permitted”according to Islamic principles, the opposite is “Haram”defining what is “banned.” The term Halal is not only used in the context of consumables or products but refers to a wide range of applications and influences all aspects of Muslim life

Sustainable Food System in the European Union

This book focuses on the complexity of the European Union food systems and their progress in achieving Farm to Forks’ and European Green Deal strategies’ goals. Nowadays, the sustainability of food systems’ issue is a crucial driver for the mitigation and adaptation climate change actions and for the reduction of environmental degradation. The presented research, analyzing different strategies and tools, has provided updated solutions for several agri-food sectors and geographical areas

L’industria del cemento in Italia: flussi di materia, energia e impatto ambientale

The cement production requires high level of row material and energy input and it is the cause of an impact assessment. In this work is presented an analysis of material and energy flows across the cement industry, with particular reference to Italy the best European cement producer

The ancient crop of Quinoa for world food security

The growing interest in old food crop such as quinoa (Chenopodium quinoaW illd), is based on their nutritional value, high adaptability to different pedoclimatic conditions and remarkable yields. The objective of this paper is to present a review of quinoa seed characteristics and to analyze its potentialities in rural and urban food market