Knowledge Agora



Similar Articles

Title Improving the carbon footprint of food and packaging waste management in a supermarket of the Italian retail sector
ID_Doc 5717
Authors Marrucci, L; Marchi, M; Daddi, T
Title Improving the carbon footprint of food and packaging waste management in a supermarket of the Italian retail sector
Year 2020
Published
Abstract In a consumer society, the retail sector contributes significantly to waste production. Supermarkets play a central role in the challenges of resources efficiency and waste prevention. The circular economy has become a major alternative to the classical economic model and the retail sector has begun moving along this path. The aim of this study is to analyse supermarket waste management systems to identify more sustainable and circular processes. A specific case study was analysed to assess and improve the waste management system of a supermarket. We used the DMAIC (Define - Measure - Analyse - Improve - Control) model from the Lean Six Sigma methodology to collect data and information. We evaluated the environmental performance of the waste management system through its carbon footprint and compared the environmental impacts in terms of CO2-eq of different waste treatments for each waste category. We introduced a new waste management system in the supermarket, which demonstrated better performance. Our comparison of different waste treatments highlights the importance of recycling, particularly in the context of the circular economy. We then focused on organic matter, as the category producing the most waste and compared composting and anaerobic digestion. We found that anaerobic digestion releases less greenhouse gas emissions. Similar improvement programs can be directly adopted by other stores without repeating the analysis. Our study can inform future research into the use of organic waste for obtaining biogas and other sub-products. The integration of the Lean Six Sigma methodology and other environmental tools can also be assessed as a strategy in the circular economy. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PDF

Similar Articles

ID Score Article
27218 Rincón-Moreno, J; Franco-García, ML; Carpio-Aguilar, JC; Hernández-Sarabia, M Share, Optimise, Closed-Loop for Food Waste (SOL4FoodWaste): The Case of Walmart-Mexico(2019)
4981 Jabbour, ABLD; Frascareli, FCD; Gonzalez, EDRS; Jabbour, CJC Are food supply chains taking advantage of the circular economy? A research agenda on tackling food waste based on Industry 4.0 technologies(2023)Production Planning & Control, 34, 10
29052 Kazancoglu, I; Ozbiltekin-Pala, M; Kazancoglu, Y; Kumar, P Food waste management in the retail sector: challenges that hinder transition to circular economy(2022)Journal Of Material Cycles And Waste Management, 24.0, 2
21707 de Sadeleer, I; Brattebo, H; Callewaert, P Waste prevention, energy recovery or recycling - Directions for household food waste management in light of circular economy policy(2020)
73354 Huang, IYL; Manning, L; James, KL; Grigoriadis, V; Millington, A; Wood, V; Ward, S Food waste management: A review of retailers' business practices and their implications for sustainable value(2021)
28868 Alonso-Muñoz, S; García-Muiña, FE; Medina-Salgado, MS; González-Sánchez, R Towards circular economy practices in food waste management: a retrospective overview and a research agenda(2022)British Food Journal, 124.0, 13
639 Tarhini, M; Turcea, VC; Zapucioiu, LF; Ion, RA Food Waste Status And Reduction Through The Circular Economy(2022)Scientific Papers-Series Management Economic Engineering In Agriculture And Rural Development, 22, 4
2811 Batista, L; Dora, M; Garza-Reyes, JA; Kumar, V Improving the sustainability of food supply chains through circular economy practices - a qualitative mapping approach(2021)Management Of Environmental Quality, 32, 4
22159 Zeller, V; Lavigne, C; D'Ans, P; Towa, E; Achten, WMJ Assessing the environmental performance for more local and more circular biowaste management options at city-region level(2020)
23085 de los Mozos, EA; Badurdeen, F; Dossou, PE Sustainable Consumption by Reducing Food Waste: A Review of the Current State and Directions for Future Research(2020)
Scroll