Fabrication and characterization of novel antifouling nanofiltration membrane prepared from oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyethersulfone nanocomposite

In the past decade, food waste has received increased attention on both academic and societal levels. As a cause of negative economic, environmental and social effects, food waste is considered to be one of the sustainability issues that needs to be addressed. In developed countries, consumers are one of the biggest sources of food waste. To successfully reduce consumer-related food waste, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the factors influencing food waste-related consumer perceptions and behaviors. The present paper presents the results of a literature review and expert interviews on factors causing consumer-related food waste in households and supply chains. Results show that consumers’ motivation to avoid food waste, their management skills of food provisioning and food handling and their trade-offs between priorities have an extensive influence on their food waste behaviors. We identify actions that governments, societal stakeholders and retailers can undertake to reduce consumer-related food waste, highlighting that synergistic actions between all parties are most promising. Further research should focus on exploring specific food waste contexts and interactions more in-depth. Experiments and interventions in particular can contribute to a shift from analysis to solutions.

Consumer-related food waste: causes and potential for action

https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&context=tfschafart

Emerging technologies for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.

Food waste generation and industrial uses: A review.

Data fusion methodologies for food and beverage authentication and quality assessment - a review.

Estimates of European food waste levels

Food losses and food waste (FLW) have become a global concern in recent years and emerge as a priority in the global and national political agenda (e.g., with Target 12.3 in the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). A good understanding of the availability and quality of global FLW data is a prerequisite for tracking progress on reduction targets, analyzing environmental impacts, and exploring mitigation strategies for FLW. There has been a growing body of literature on FLW quantification in the past years; however, significant challenges remain, such as data inconsistency and a narrow temporal, geographical, and food supply chain coverage. In this paper, we examined 202 publications which reported FLW data for 84 countries and 52 individual years from 1933 to 2014. We found that most existing publications are conducted for a few industrialized countries (e.g., the United Kingdom and the United States), and over half of them are based only on secondary data, which signals high uncertainties i...

Missing Food, Missing Data? A Critical Review of Global Food Losses and Food Waste Data

The growing volumes of food globally lost or wasted and implications for food security and sustainability have raised the concern of researchers, governments, international organizations and grass-root movements. Much research and experiences investigating food waste causes and drivers focus on one specific segment of the food supply chain and limit the analysis to the situation of one or few countries, while the few studies of wider geographical scope also target other relevant and diversified objectives (e.g., food waste definition, quantification, environmental and economic impacts, and recommendations for interventions). This study, carried out by a network of European institutions involved in research and initiatives against food waste, focuses on the analysis of a broad area, Europe, through a wide and systematic literature review and consultation with stakeholders in international focus groups. The food supply chain was divided into seven segments and three main contexts were defined for the examination of food waste sources: Technological, Institutional (related to organisational factors, i.e., business management, economy, legislation, and policy), and Social (related to consumers’ behaviours and lifestyles). Results suggest a wide and multifaceted problem, interconnected across all stages of the food supply chain, from primary production, to final consumption. Within each context, the identified drivers have been grouped according to the possibilities and the type of interventions for food waste reduction. A final cross-contextual prioritization distinguished food waste sources related to (A) inherent characteristics of food; (B) social and economic factors; (C) individual non-readily changeable behaviours; (D) other priorities targeted by private and public stakeholders; (E) diversified factors, such as mismanagement, inefficient legislation, lack of awareness or information; and sub-optimal use of available technologies, which could be more promptly changed. Such diversification of causes calls for specific monitoring systems, targeted policy measures, and actions of individual stakeholders at each stage of the food supply chain.

Food waste drivers in Europe, from identification to possible interventions

The influence of pH, salt and temperature on nanofiltration performance

The concept of electronic tongues or taste sensors has developed rapidly during recent years due to their large potential. They are based on electrochemical sensors combined with multivariate data analysis. Voltammetric electronic tongues have proven valuable in many applications. Due to their ruggedness and simplicity, they have been found especially suitable for on-line monitoring of industrial processes. A voltammetric electronic tongue, specially designed for use in the dairy industry is described. It consisted of four working electrodes (gold, platinum, rhodium and stainless steel), embedded in PEEK (TM). It was mounted in a housing of stainless steel, which was inserted in the process line for direct on-line measurements. The voltammetric electronic tongue was used to follow different sources of milk coming into the process and to monitor the cleaning process. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Karin Östergren

Papers

Estimates of European food waste levels

Missing Food, Missing Data? A Critical Review of Global Food Losses and Food Waste Data

Food waste drivers in Europe, from identification to possible interventions

The influence of pH, salt and temperature on nanofiltration performance

An electronic tongue in the dairy industry