Modern food systems are characterized by a high energy intensity as well as by the production of large amounts of waste, residuals and food losses. This inefficiency presents major consequences, in terms of GHG emissions, waste disposal, and natural resource depletion. The research hypothesis is that residual biomass material could contribute to the energetic needs of food systems, if recovered as an integrated renewable energy source (RES), leading to a sensitive reduction of the impacts of food systems, primarily in terms of fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions. In order to assess these effects, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) has been conducted to compare two different food systems: a fossil fuel-based system and an integrated system with the use of residual as RES for self-consumption. The food product under analysis has been the peach nectar, from cultivation to end-of-life. The aim of this LCA is twofold. On one hand, it allows an evaluation of the energy inefficiencies related to agro-food waste. On the other hand, it illustrates how the integration of bioenergy into food systems could effectively contribute to reduce this inefficiency. Data about inputs and waste generated has been collected mainly through literature review and databases. Energy balance, GHG emissions (Global Warming Potential) and waste generation have been analyzed in order to identify the relative requirements and contribution of the different segments. An evaluation of the energy “loss” through the different categories of waste allowed to provide details about the consequences associated with its management and/or disposal. Results should provide an insight of the impacts associated with inefficiencies within food systems. The comparison provides a measure of the potential reuse of wasted biomass and the amount of energy recoverable, that could represent a first step for the formulation of specific policies on the integration of bioenergies for self-consumption.

The evaluation of the farmers’ communities’ approach to the Slow Food vision, their perception of the Slow Food role in supporting their activity and their appreciation and expectations from participating in the event of Mother Earth were studied. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was adopted in an agro-food sector context. A survey was conducted, 120 questionnaires from farmers attending the Mother Earth in Turin in 2010 were collected. The descriptive statistical analysis showed that both Slow Food membership and participation to Mother Earth Meeting were much appreciated for the support provided to their business and the contribution to a more sustainable and fair development. A positive social, environmental and psychological impact on farmers also resulted. Results showed also an interesting perspective on the possible universality of the Slow Food and Mother Earth values. Farmers declared that Slow Food is supporting them by preserving the biodiversity and orienting them to the use of local resources and reducing the chemical inputs. Many farmers mentioned the language/culture and administration/bureaucratic issues as an obstacle to be a member in the movement and to participate to the event. Participation to Mother Earth gives an opportunity to exchange information with other farmers’ communities and to participate to seminars and debates, helpful for their business development. The absolute majority of positive answers associated to the farmers’ willingness to relate to Slow Food and participate to the next Mother Earth editions negatively influenced the UTAUT model results. A factor analysis showed that the variables associated to the UTAUT model constructs Performance Expectancy and Effort Expectancy were consistent, able to explain the construct variability, and their measurement reliable. Their inclusion in a simplest Technology Acceptance Model could be considered in future researches.

I crescenti volumi di traffico che interessano le pavimentazioni stradali causano sollecitazioni tensionali di notevole entità che provocano danni permanenti alla sovrastruttura. Tali danni ne riducono la vita utile e comportano elevati costi di manutenzione. Il conglomerato bituminoso è un materiale multifase composto da inerti, bitume e vuoti d'aria. Le proprietà fisiche e le prestazioni della miscela dipendono dalle caratteristiche dell'aggregato, del legante e dalla loro interazione. L’approccio tradizionalmente utilizzato per la modellazione numerica del conglomerato bituminoso si basa su uno studio macroscopico della sua risposta meccanica attraverso modelli costitutivi al continuo che, per loro natura, non considerano la mutua interazione tra le fasi eterogenee che lo compongono ed utilizzano schematizzazioni omogenee equivalenti. Nell’ottica di un’evoluzione di tali metodologie è necessario superare questa semplificazione, considerando il carattere discreto del sistema ed adottando un approccio di tipo microscopico, che consenta di rappresentare i reali processi fisico-meccanici dai quali dipende la risposta macroscopica d’insieme. Nel presente lavoro, dopo una rassegna generale dei principali metodi numerici tradizionalmente impiegati per lo studio del conglomerato bituminoso, viene approfondita la teoria degli Elementi Discreti Particellari (DEM-P), che schematizza il materiale granulare come un insieme di particelle indipendenti che interagiscono tra loro nei punti di reciproco contatto secondo appropriate leggi costitutive. Viene valutata l’influenza della forma e delle dimensioni dell’aggregato sulle caratteristiche macroscopiche (tensione deviatorica massima) e microscopiche (forze di contatto normali e tangenziali, numero di contatti, indice dei vuoti, porosità, addensamento, angolo di attrito interno) della miscela. Ciò è reso possibile dal confronto tra risultati numerici e sperimentali di test triassiali condotti su provini costituiti da tre diverse miscele formate da sfere ed elementi di forma generica. / Higher traffic volume produces high stress within pavement layer, which is one of the main causes for pavement distresses. These distresses reduce the service life of the pavement and increase the maintenance cost. Asphalt mixture is a composite material of graded aggregates bound with asphalt binder plus a certain amount of air voids. The physical properties and performance of asphalt mixture are governed by the properties of the aggregate, the properties of the asphalt binder and asphalt-aggregate interactions. The conventional approach to model the stress-strain behavior of asphalt mixtures is to treat them at macro-scale using continuum-based methods. These methods represent the system as a domain of elementary units with a simple shape that, while deforming, remain in contact with each other through their relative separation surfaces. Numerous research works, however, show that for these mixtures it's very important to take into account their micromechanical behaviour at the scale of aggregate particles, because it is a primary factor in terms of overall system performance. In this way the Distinct Particle Element Method (DEM-P) represents a very useful tool, which schematizes a granular material by particles that displace independently from one another and interact only at contact points. Since the greater part of asphalt mixtures is composed of aggregates, their structure and characteristics, particularly angularity and shape, have been considered as primary factors that affect the development of the aggregate skeleton and the mechanical performance of asphalt pavements. Aggregate contact and interlocking, in fact, control the load-bearing capacity and load-transferring capability of asphalt mixes. In order to investigate this influence, a series of triaxial tests have been conducted on samples composed of spheres and angular grains. Numerical results have been compared with the lab ones in terms of deviator stress versus axial strain and in terms of micromechanical characteristics.

Il pomodoro è una delle colture principali del panorama agro-alimentare italiano e rappresenta un ingrediente base della tradizione culinaria nazionale. Il pomodoro lavorato dall’industria conserviera può essere trasformato in diverse tipologie merceologiche, che si differenziano in base alla tecniche di lavorazione impiegate ed alle caratteristiche del prodotto finito. la percentuale di spesa totale destinata all’acquisto di cibo fuori casa è in aumento a livello globale e l’interesse dell’industria alimentare nei confronti di questo canale di vendita è quindi crescente. Mentre sono numerose le indagine in letteratura che studiano i processi di acquisto dei consumatori finali, non ci sono evidenze di studi simili condotti sugli operatori del Food Service. Obiettivo principale della ricerca è quello di valutare le preferenze dei responsabili acquisti del settore Food Service per diverse tipologie di pomodoro trasformato, in relazione ad una gamma di attributi rilevanti del prodotto e di caratteristiche del cliente. La raccolta dei dati è avvenuta attraverso un esperimento di scelta ipotetico realizzato in Italia e alcuni mercati esteri. Dai risultati ottenuti dall’indagine emerge che i Pelati sono la categoria di pomodoro trasformato preferita dai responsabili degli acquisti del settore Food Service intervistati, con il 35% delle preferenze dichiarate nell'insieme dei contesti di scelta proposti, seguita dalla Polpa (25%), dalla Passata (20%) e dal Concentrato (15%). Dai risultati ottenuti dalla stima del modello econometrico Logit a parametri randomizzati è emerso che alcuni attributi qualitativi di fiducia (credence), spesso impiegati nelle strategie di differenziazione e posizionamento da parte dell’industria alimentare nel mercato Retail, possono rivestire un ruolo importante anche nell’influenzare le preferenze degli operatori del Food Service. Questo potrebbe quindi essere un interessante filone di ricerca da sviluppare nel futuro, possibilmente con l'impiego congiunto di metodologie di analisi basate su esperimenti di scelta ipotetici e non ipotetici. / Tomato is one of the most important crops of Italian agri-food sector and it is one of the main ingredient in the national culinary tradition. Fresh tomatoes can be processed by Food Industry into different categories (peeled tomatoes, tomato puree, chopped pulp, concentrate), which differ mainly for the production method used and the main features of finished product. The proportion of food expenditures going to the Food-away-from-home (FAFH) market is increasing globally. Food industry is then looking with higher interest for new business opportunities into this market channel. There is a large literature on consumers’ purchase behavior, but there are no evidences of studies on customers preferences in the Food Service market. This study analyses preferences of Food Service market customers for different types of processed tomato, according to some relevant product attributes and customer's characteristics. Data were collected through a hypothetical discrete choice experiment conducted in Italy and in some foreign markets. Results show that peeled tomatoes are the processed tomato type preferred by Food Service customers (35% of the preferences), followed by chopped pulp (25%) , tomato puree (20%) and tomato concentrate (15%). Econometric results, obtained through the estimation of a Random Parameter Logit model, indicate that customers’ preferences can be influenced by credence attributes of food products. Such kind of product characteristics are frequently used by Food Industry for market differentiation and positioning strategies in the Retail market; nonetheless, evidences from this survey suggest that they may play an important role also in influencing purchase decisions in the Food Service market. The findings of this study might be interesting for further researches on this market channel, using hypothetical and non-hypothetical methods jointly to test the robustness of these preliminary results.

Il recupero dei materiali di scarto è un aspetto di grande attualità in campo stradale, così come negli altri ambiti dell’ingegneria civile. L’attenzione della ricerca e degli esperti del settore è rivolta all’affinamento di tecniche di riciclaggio che riducano l’impatto ambientale senza compromettere le prestazioni meccaniche finali. Tali indagini cercano di far corrispondere le necessità di smaltimento dei rifiuti con quelle dell’industria infrastrutturale, legate al reperimento di materiali da costruzione tecnicamente idonei ed economicamente vantaggiosi. Attualmente sono già diversi i tipi di prodotti rigenerati e riutilizzati nella realizzazione delle pavimentazioni stradali e numerosi sono anche quelli di nuova introduzione in fase di sperimentazione. In particolare, accanto ai materiali derivanti dalle operazioni di recupero della rete viaria, è opportuno considerare anche quelli provenienti dall’esercizio delle attività di trasporto, il quale comporta ogni anno il raggiungimento della fine della vita utile per centinaia di migliaia di tonnellate di pneumatici di gomma. L’obiettivo della presente analisi sperimentale è quello di fornire indicazioni e informazioni in merito alla tecnica di riciclaggio a freddo con emulsione bituminosa e cemento, valutando la possibilità di applicazione di tale metodologia in combinazione con il polverino di gomma, ottenuto dal recupero degli pneumatici fuori uso (PFU). La ricerca si distingue per una duplice valenza: la prima è quella di promuovere ulteriormente la tecnica di riciclaggio a freddo, che si sta imponendo per i suoi numerosi vantaggi economici ed ambientali, legati soprattutto alla temperatura d’esercizio; la seconda è quella di sperimentare l’utilizzo del polverino di gomma, nelle due forme di granulazione tradizionale e criogenica, additivato a miscele costituite interamente da materiale proveniente da scarifica di pavimentazioni esistenti e stabilizzate con diverse percentuali di emulsione di bitume e di legante cementizio. / Waste materials reclamation is a subject of great interest in road construction as well as in all other areas of civil engineering. Research and experts attention is focused on the improvement of recycling techniques that can reduce the environmental impact without compromising the final mechanical performances. These investigations try to match the needs of waste disposal with those of infrastructural industry, linked to obtaining building materials technically appropriate and cost effective. Currently there are several types of products already reclaimed and reused in the pavements construction and there are also those newly introduced that are still involved in the testing phase. In particular, in addition to materials resulting from the pavement recycling operations, those derived from the operation of transport activities are to be considered. They include hundreds of thousands of tons of rubber tires that every year reach the end of their life. The goal of this experimental analysis is to provide references and information on the cold recycling technique with bituminous emulsion and cement, studying the possible application of this method in combination with the crumb rubber obtained from end of life tires. The research is characterized by a dual purpose: first is to further promote the technique of cold recycling which is being imposed for its numerous economic and environmental advantages, especially related to the operating temperature; the second is to experiment the use of the crumb rubber, in the two forms obtained from traditional and cryogenic mechanical shredding, added to mixtures entirely consisting of reclaimed asphalt from milling of existing pavements and stabilized with different percentages of bituminous emulsion and cement binder.

Italy registers a fast increase of low income population. Academics and policy makers consider income inequalities as a key determinant for low or inadequate healthy food consumption. Thus the objective is to understand how to overcome the agrofood chain barriers towards healthy food production, commercialisation and consumption for population at risk of poverty (ROP) in Italy. The study adopts a market oriented food chain approach, focusing the research ambit on ROP consumers, processing industries and retailers. The empirical investigation adopts a qualitative methodology with an explorative approach. The actors are investigated through 4 focus groups for consumers and carrying out 27 face to face semi-structured interviews for industries and retailers’ representatives. The results achieved provide the perceptions of each actor integrated into an overall chain approach. The analysis shows that all agrofood actors lack of an adequate level of knowledge towards healthy food definition. Food industries and retailers also show poor awareness about ROP consumers’ segment. In addition they perceive that the high costs for producing healthy food conflict with the low economic performances expected from ROP consumers’ segment. These aspects induce a scarce interest in investing on commercialisation strategies for healthy food for ROP consumers. Further ROP consumers show other notable barriers to adopt healthy diets caused, among others, by a personal strong negative attitude and lack of motivation. The personal barriers are also negatively influenced by several external socio-economic factors. The solutions to overcome the barriers shall rely on the improvement of the agrofood chain internal relations to identify successful strategies for increasing interest on low cost healthy food. In particular the focus should be on improved collaboration on innovation adoption and marketing strategies, considering ROP consumers’ preferences and needs. An external political intervention is instead necessary to fill the knowledge and regulations’ gaps on healthy food issues.

In seguito ad una disamina del materiale presente in letteratura, ci siamo chiesti se i numerosi investimenti pubblicitari, promozionali, di marketing e, per dirla in una parola sola “intangibili”, generassero un aumento del valore dell’impresa nel contesto valutativo oppure se dessero origine esclusivamente ad aumenti di fatturato. L’obiettivo più ambito consiste nel capitalizzare gli investimenti su attività intangibili come la costruzione del marchio, l’utilizzo di brevetti, le operazioni rivolte alla soddisfazione del cliente e tutto quanto si possa definire immateriale. Eppure coesistono nel mare magnum della stessa azienda. Fino a quando non si potrà inserire criteri di valutazione d’azienda delle performance di marketing non ci potrà essere crescita in quanto, le risorse, sono utilizzate senza un criterio di ritorno di investimento. / The analysis of the various methods of business valuation is begun through an examination of the traditionally used witnesses for the instruction of the appraisal matter, continuation from enriched specific witnesses of examples and concluded through a carried out bibliographical analysis on international specific articles. Afterwards to an examination of the material present in literature, we have wondered ourselves if the numerous advertising investments, marketing and, in order to say it in a single word “intangible”, they generated an increase of the value of the enterprise in the valuation context or if they exclusively gave origin to turnover increases. The which aimed at objective more consists in capitalizing the investments on intangible activities like the construction of the brand, the use of licenses, the operations turned to the customer satisfaction and all how much can be defined immaterial. To define a financial method of measurement of a not financial asset represents the fulcrum of the search. The results evidence that the financial market currency positively the intangible investments, but, in spite of everything, considers theoretical the measurement of the monetary value of the same ones. The habit of the companies is that to measure the effects of a cost reduction of production and, more in general terms, than all this that is material, while they do not control minimally as the undertaken actions immaterial generate or they do not generate profit.

Characteristics of modern food demand force retailers to acquire more information about product process along the food supply chain to ensure that product are in accordance with consumer preference. Therefore, the product process involves more information flows between buyer and supplier which requires collaborative efforts. These changes translate into several studies on the inter-organizational relationship in agri-food systems. Studies on inter-organizational relationships have been conducted in various academic disciplines, including sociology, psychology, law, economics, marketing, management, and combination of these. Inter-organizational relationships is an interaction between organizations which involved firms horizontally, as well as, vertically. In this study we deal with vertical, buyer-seller relationship which are sometimes referred to chain relationships. We define vertical business relationship in the agriculture-food based sector as “agri-food chain relationships”. The focus is on sustainable inter-organizational relationships in a way that they can be scientifically investigated. We study characteristics which ensure that a relationship is long-lasting and rewarding for all involved parties in the sardinian dairy. We test the theoretical model using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the most important determinant for the relationships is technology and the price isn’t significant for the relationship governance. / In prima istanza è stato condotto un attento lavoro di literature review relativamente ai temi della relationship governance nelle agri-food supply chain. Le analisi hanno permesso di indagare le principale metodologie utilizzate valutazione della relationship governance, dall’approccio neo-istituzionale dei costi di transazione all’impiego di metodi statistici, quali le equazioni strutturali. Definito il campo d’indagine, ovvero il settore-lattiero caseario ovino sardo, sono state individuate le principali variabili che concorrono alla definizione delle relazioni tra i membri della Supply chain. Le analisi del settore hanno messo in luce un crescente bisogno di comprensione delle dinamiche relative alle relazioni di filiera. Una prima conoscenza del settore unita all’analisi bibliografica hanno permesso di strutturare il modello concettuale alla base dell’analisi empirica e le ipotesi sottostanti il progetto di ricerca. Su questo modello sono stati costruiti due distinti questionari per allevatori e trasformatori dediti alla produzione dei tre formaggi DOP : Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo e Fiore Sardo. Successivamente sono state condotte una serie di analisi statistiche esplorative volte a testare l’associazioni tra variabili, ovvero prezzo e modalità di coordinamento, modalità di coordinamento e fiducia tra i partners. Successivamente è stato condotto il test delle ipotesi formulate attraverso l’analisi ad equazioni strutturali, costruendo il modello di misurazione (analisi fattoriale) e il modello strutturale, volto ad individuare i parametri di causalità tra le variabili latenti. Le analisi permettono quindi di individuare le determinanti della relationships governance nel settore lattiero caseario sardo, sia rispetto all’ambiente – inteso sia nell’accezione istituzionale che strutturale e culturale – sia rispetto alle caratteristiche del prodotto, tenendo presente la natura agro-alimentare e le connesse specificità. È stato quindi valutato l’effetto che la relationship governance, e quindi le dimensioni individuate che concorrono a definirla, ha su una delle dimensioni più critiche di performance, ovvero il prezzo del bene scambiato

One of the main problems recognized in sustainable development goals and sustainable agricultural objectives is Climate change. Farming contributes significantly to the overall Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, which is approximately 10-12 percent of total GHG emissions, but when taking in consideration also land-use change, including deforestation driven by agricultural expansion for food, fiber and fuel the number rises to approximately 30 percent (Smith et. al., 2007). There are two distinct methodological approaches for environmental impact assessment; Life Cycle Assessment (a bottom up approach) and Input-Output Analysis (a top down approach). The two methodologies differ significantly but there is not an immediate choice between them if the scope of the study is on a sectorial level. Instead, as an alternative, hybrid approaches which combine these two approaches have emerged. The aim of this study is to analyze in a greater detail the agricultural sectors contribution to Climate change caused by the consumption of food products. Hence, to identify the food products that have the greatest impact through their life cycle, identifying their hotspots and evaluating the mitigation possibilities for the same. At the same time evaluating methodological possibilities and models to be applied for this purpose both on a EU level and on a country level (Italy).

Non esiste una definizione standard di spreco alimentare, così come non esistono metodologie uniformi per calcolarlo. Gli studi finora realizzati sullo spreco sono carenti, i dati raccolti spesso insufficienti. Il cibo viene sprecato ad ogni stadio della filiera alimentare, dal campo alla tavola. Nei Paesi Membri dell’Unione Europea, le famiglie – secondo dati elaborati da Eurostat- sono le principali responsabili dello spreco. Secondo la FAO, ogni europeo spreca ogni anno 179 chili di alimenti. Last Minute Market, spin off accademico che si occupa di ridurre e recuperare lo spreco, ha stimato che a livello domestico in Italia si sprecano mediamente il 17% dei prodotti ortofrutticoli acquistati, il 15% di pesce, il 28% di pasta e pane, il 29% di uova, il 30% di carne e il 32% di latticini. Da un punto di vista economico, lo sperpero alimentare significa una perdita di 1.693 euro l’anno per famiglia. Per inquadrare lo spreco alimentare domestico in Italia e gettare luce su dati contrastanti emersi da diversi studi finora realizzati, la tesi – dopo aver presentato stime a livello globale, europeo e italiano – si concentra sull’analisi dei dati emersi da un questionario sullo spreco domestico, compilato da 3.087 italiani tra il mese di novembre e quello di dicembre 2012. L’indagine socio-economica è stata realizzata in collaborazione con la Commissione Europea (DG JCR, Istituto per la Tutela della Salute dei Consumatori) e il Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie. Il questionario è stato posto sulla piattaforma online surveymonkey. La tesi ha avuto come obiettivi l’identificazione di dati quantitativi circa “quanto si spreca” , “cosa si spreca”, l’individuazione delle cause sociali, valoriali, comportamentali e di stile di vita, dello spreco alimentare delle famiglie italiane, l’impatto economico dello spreco sul budget domestico e l’elaborazione di profili di consumatori attraverso la cluster analysis. / There is no standard definition of food waste, as there are no uniform methods for calculating it. Studies carried out to date on food waste are lacking and the data collected are often insufficient. Food is wasted at every stage of the food chain, from farm to table. In the European Union families - according to Eurostat -are the main responsible for food waste generation. According to FAO, Europeans waste 179 kg of food every year. Last Minute Market, academic spin-off whose aim is to reduce and recover waste, estimates that in Italy on average 17% of fruit and vegetables purchased, 15% of fish, 28% of pasta and bread, 29% of eggs, 30% meat and 32% of dairy products are wasted at the domestic level. From an economic point of view, food waste means a loss of 1,693 euros per year per family. In order to analyze and quantify household food waste in Italy and shed light on dissimilar data which have so far emerged from various studies, the thesis focuses on the examination of data derived from a questionnaire that was completed by 3,087 Italians between November and December 2012. The socio-economic survey was realized in collaboration with the European Commission (DG JCR, Institute for Health and Consumers Protection) and the Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie. The questionnaire was uploaded on SurveyMonkey, an online platform that is particularly useful when it comes to examining self-selected samples. The main aims of the thesis are the identification of quantitative data about "how much is wasted " and " what is wasted ", the identification of social causes, values, behavior and lifestyle that lead to food waste, the economic impact of food waste on families’ budget and the development of consumer profiles through the cluster analysis.