Phosphorus is an essential source with significance use in agriculture. Phosphorus is lost in the human intensified global cycle and it is important to remove phosphorus from water body. However, important and potential sources for phosphorus product which is suitable and effective for fertilizer use may be ignored due to over emphasize on the pollution prevention. This work aims to identify the potential of phosphorus recovery from solid organic waste in Sweden. Based on the result of Material Flow Analysis of phosphorus, solid food waste is identified the main solid waste fractions containing phosphorus substances of phosphorus in Sweden. From the case study and comparison of three alternatives, the possibility of recovery of phosphorus from household solid food waste is analyzed. A SWOT analyst is applied to provide a best solution for phosphorus recovery from food waste. The key drivers, the system boundaries for the phosphorus recovery and collection, storage, transport and use of the phosphorus are also discussed.

The concern about the rising food waste has drawn the attention of policy makers around the world, from France banning supermarkets throwing away unused food, to a more global perspective, with the UN aiming to reduce food waste by 50% by 2025 (Hinckley, 2018; Valencia, 2016). As the concern about food waste increases - so does the concern about what role e-grocery will play in it. By reason of the decreasing sense of ownership of the product, it is likely that food waste will increase (Illyuk, 2018). It has been demonstrated that persuasive design is an efficient tool to influence users’ habits within e-grocery, but currently it is primarily used to influence purchases and subsequently waste more (Chu et al., 2014).  We believed that e-grocery showed potential to also be able to counteract the food waste with the help of persuasive design. This research therefore aimed to investigate if persuasive design could be used for more sustainable purposes; meaning to decrease food waste instead of inciting overconsumption. Using current e-grocery triggers from Chu et al. (2014), this research has repurposed them to pursue a more sustainable approach. The triggers (default personalisation, reminder, suggestion & expertise-credibility) performed within a design- oriented research. The aim was to use the prototype in affiliation with criteria, that would prove their effectiveness through critical perspectives of the literature.  A study was set up with 12 respondents, in which they were asked to navigate the prototype with tasks. After navigating the prototype, they were asked questions based of the criteria. Analysing and evaluating the empiric data with the criteria helped to conclude three triggers that could be useful within e-grocery to reduce food waste.

Urbanization alters the natural soil structure of landscapes. This has a negative impact on the environment. This degradation of the soil in the urban environment needs management practices that protect and restore the nutrient value in the soil. Soil is one of the most essential elements of landscapes. High quality soils make a major contribution to cleaning water, acting as a filtration system that purifies the water it absorbs. Soil also sustains microorganisms that promote vegetation growth and consequently food production, one of the most important human activities that allows us to thrive as a society. The poor soil conditions in the urban environment make it very difficult to sustain healthy trees and vegetation. Urban soil is "modified through the regrading, compaction, cutting and filling, and, sometimes, contamination that comes with creating buildings, roads and associated land uses", changing the physical, chemical and biological structure of soil. (Trowbridge and Bassuk 3) In general, urban areas require better waste management methods that could use an abundant resource of food and yard waste to make compost. This thesis focuses on composting organic waste in the McNair neighborhood of Fairfax County in order to produce a resource to improve the soil conditions. This improvement would support the vegetation in this urban environment, and, in addition, sequester carbon and divert materials that otherwise would go to landfills. This thesis demonstrates a sustainable method for composting food and yard waste in a mixed-use community in northern Virginia turning waste material into a resource. / Master of Landscape Architecture / The growth of cities has a negative impact on the native soil and vegetation. The expansion of urban areas weakens the microorganisms that live in the soils through soil compaction for the construction of roads and buildings, runoff pollution and the use of chemicals in lawns and gardens. These urban conditions challenge the growth of trees and vegetation in general. Using sustainable waste management practices in cities we can turn organic waste material and turn it into an organic fertilizer to sustain the microorganisms in the soil and promote the growth of vegetation in urban areas. This thesis focuses in composting food waste and yard waste in the McNair neighborhood in Fairfax in order to turn a waste material into a local resource that benefits the community by sustaining green areas and diverting organic waste from going to landfills.

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In developed countries, approximately 222 million tons of food is wasted at the consumer level per year (FAO, 2011). These amounts of food waste have large social, economic, and environmental impacts. Studies have shown that one of the main causes of food waste in developed countries is consumers’ elevated expectations for appearances in fresh produce, causing imperfect produce to be wasted. In this study, we estimate consumer willingness to pay for sweet potatoes with five different skinning injury levels using a Vickrey 2nd price non- hypothetical auction. We test if consumer knowledge about (1) the percentage of blemishing, (2) the relationship between blemished produce and food waste, and (3) the environmental impacts of food waste influences willingness-to-pay for blemished produce. We find that consumer bids were affected by knowing the blemishing levels and after gaining knowledge about food waste and its environmental impacts.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva resonemang som förs i livsmedelsbutiker kring prissättningsstrategier på färskvaror, och vilken roll matsvinn spelar i detta sammanhang. Teoretisk referensram: I detta kapitel redovisas olika faktorer som kan ha effekt på val av prissättningsstrategier. Därför presenteras tidigare studier om olika prissättningsstrategier samt effekter på matsvinn och lönsamhet. Även institutionella teorin beskrivs, vilken förklarar krafter som kan påverka organisationers beteenden. Denna teori kan därmed hjälpa till att förklara varför prissättare i livsmedelsbutiker resonerar som de gör gällande prissättning och matsvinn. Metod: För att uppfylla syftet med studien har en kvalitativ ansats tillämpats. Besöksintervjuer har genomförts i sex olika ICA-butiker med anställda som har kunskap om prissättning av färskvaror. Butiker av olika storlekar har inkluderats för att möjligtvis kunna upptäcka om en butiks storlek har någon betydelse gällande val av prissättningsstrategier på färskvaror samt hänsyn till matsvinn i dessa. Empiri: Detta kapitel innehåller insamlade data från intervjurespondenterna. Här redovisas deras syn på matsvinn och hur prissättningen i deras butiker går till. Slutsatser: Empirin har analyserats utifrån institutionella teorin samt utifrån lönsamhet då det är en betydande faktor som styr verksamheter. Slutsatserna som framkommit är att faktorer som påverkar vilka prissättningsstrategier som tillämpas och vilken hänsyn som kan tas till matsvinn i dessa är lönsamhet, normer, konkurrenter och tryck från samhället. Det har också visats att endast dynamisk prissättning tillämpas och att butikens storlek inte har någon betydelse för hur de väljer att prisnedsätta. Ännu en slutsats är att butikens storlek inte behöver ha någon betydelse för den hänsyn som tas till matsvinn i prissättningen. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the reasoning of food retailers about pricing strategies for perishable food, and what role food waste plays in this regard. Theoretical perspectives: This chapter presents various factors that may affect the choice of pricing strategies. Therefore, previous studies about different pricing strategies and their effects on food waste and profitability are presented. The institutional theory is also described, which explains forces that can affect organizations' behavior. This theory can therefore help explain why price setters in food stores argue in the way they do regarding pricing and food waste. Method: To qualify for the purpose of the study, a qualitative approach has been applied. Interviews have been conducted in six different ICA-stores with employees who have knowledge of pricing of perishable food. Stores of different sizes have been included in order to be able to discover if a store’s size has any significance in selecting pricing strategies for perishable food, as well as consideration to food waste in these. Empirical results: This chapter contains collected data from the interview respondents. Information about the pricing strategies applied in the stores of the study, as well as the respondents' views of food waste, are presented. Conclusions: Our empirical results have been analyzed on the basis of the institutional theory as well as profitability as it is a significant factor in managing activities. The conclusions found are that factors affecting the pricing strategies applied and the consideration that can be taken to food waste in these, are profitability, norms, competitors and pressures from society. It has also been shown that only dynamic pricing is applied and that the size of the store does not matter in their strategy of mark downs. Yet another conclusion is that the size of the store does not have any significance for the consideration taken to food waste in the pricing.

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No description available.

Food waste is a monumental problem as food production accounts for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions globally and nearly a third of it ends up as waste. By changing people’s behaviors and attitudes, this surplus food could be eaten instead. Persuasive technologies can be an effective way of changing people’s behaviors; however, they may narrow down the view of sustainability if applied in a manner that focuses too much on individuals (among other things). In this thesis project the focus has been on how to best design a persuasive application that reduces food waste by considering the needs of both restaurants and consumers. Two versions of an application were created based on interviews with students and restaurants, where one of the applications included features based on Persuasive Systems Design (PSD). A user study was then conducted, where the users received a number of tasks to complete and answered a questionnaire on the PSD features afterwards. The results showed that both of the applications had a similar number of errors from the users during the tasks. Besides this, all of the four features based on PSD were rated positively by users, with all features having a mean rating of 0.83 or higher on a 7-point Likert scale / Matavfall är ett monumentalt problem då livsmedelsproduktionen står för nästan en tredjedel av utsläppen av växthusgaser globalt, samtidigt som en tredjedel av livsmedlen blir avfall. Genom att förändra människors beteenden och attityder skulle detta överskott av mat kunna ätas istället. Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) kan vara ett effektivt sätt att förändra människors beteenden, men kan också begränsa synen på hållbarhet om det tillämpas på ett sätt som fokuserar för mycket på exempelvis individer. I denna avhandling har fokus varit på hur man bäst kan designa en mobilapplikation med hjälp av PSD-principer, som minskar matavfall genom att ta hänsyn till behoven hos både restauranger och konsumenter. Två versioner av en mobilapplikation skapades med utgångpunkt i intervjuer med studenter och restauranger, där en av applikationerna innehöll funktioner baserade på PSD-principer. En användarstudie genomfördes sedan, där användarna fick ett antal uppgifter för att genomföra. Användarna besvarade sedan ett frågeformulär om PSD-funktionerna. Resultaten visade att användarna gjorde ungefär lika många antal fel i båda applikationer under uppgifterna. Utöver detta bedömdes alla fyra funktioner baserade på PSD positivt av användarna, då alla funktioner bedömdes som 0,83 eller högre i genomsnitt på en 7-punkts Likert-skala.

It is estimated that roughly 103, 515 tons of peach waste is produced annually in the US. The majority of the waste is disposed of in landfills, which contributes to climate change as they release 93 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Peach waste principally consists of remaining stone and seed after flesh removal. The agro-waste includes both cellulose and lignin, which can be utilized as a filler in plastic packaging to reduce carbon footprints and material cost. The objectives of this research are (1) to develop peach flour (PF)-filled biocomposites with a polyolefin matrix using maleic anhydride-g-high density polyethylene (MAH-g-HDPE) coupling agent resin and (2) to investigate the composites’ physicomechanical, thermal, and water absorbance changes. First, preliminary experiments examined a range of PF concentrations (5-50%) and MAH concentrations (0-17%) were tested to narrow the variability of PF and MAH loading mixture in an HDPE matrix. Preliminary experiments suggested that a 2:1 ratio of PF:CR provides maximum tensile properties. Response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to analyze and optimize the tensile strength of the PW composite. The RSM parameters were MAH loading (5-20%), PF loading (2.5-10%), and polyolefin matrix (HDPE or polypropylene). The properties of PF-HDPE biocomposites were analyzed using several instrumental analyses. Mechanical strength (including tensile strength, elongation, and Young’s modulus) and thermal properties (thermal degradation, melting point, and crystallinity), and water resistance with the addition of PF and MAH were investigated. Biocomposite mechanical properties generally resulted in a nonsignificant decrease compared to the controls. Water absorption significantly increased with PF loading (P<0.01, =0.05). PF-PP biocomposites demonstrated a shift in thermal stability with an average 9.6% increase in Td compared to its control, whereas PF-HDPE biocomposites displayed no change in Td compared to its control. PF-PP and PF-HDPE biocomposites experienced a 36.7% and 16.0% decrease, respectively, in crystallinity with PF addition. The results provided evidence that peach byproduct can be diverted from landfills and utilized a filler in a polyolefin matrix. Polyolefin biocomposites with 2.5% PF would possess comparable tensile strength to a commercially available control. PF-polyolefin biocomposites can be used for packaging, automotive, and non-weightbearing construction parts.