Module 4.1

• Solid waste


  Unwanted or useless solid materials generated from human and animal activities
• Classification of solid waste based on degradability


  • Biodegradable wastes
  • Non-biodegradable wastes
• Biodegradable wastes


  Wastes that can be easily degraded by natural processes
• Non-biodegradable wastes


  Wastes that can't be easily broken down or decomposed by natural processes
• Food and packaging are important sources of municipal solid waste
• Major groups of food packaging


  • Glass
  • Metal
  • Paper and paperboard
  • Plastic
• Glass packaging


  • Bottles and jars are the usual forms
• Metal packaging


  • Cans are the most commonly used form
• Paper packaging


  • Typically used as primary packaging (e.g. liners, wrapper, or bags)
  • Paperboard is generally used as secondary packaging (e.g. boxes, trays)
• Plastic packaging


  • Available in various forms including bottles, jars, pouches, bags, trays, and boxes
• Different packaging materials can be combined to exploit the functional and aesthetic properties of each material
• Packaging combinations


  • Retort pouches
  • Tetra Brik
• Compostable plastics


  Plastics that meet ASTM D6400 (in the U.S.) or EN 13432 (in Europe) standards for biodegradation in an industrial composting facility environment
• Compostable plastics


  • Disintegrate within 12 weeks
  • Biodegrade at least 90% within 180 days in a municipal or industrial composting facility
  • 10% of solid material will be left at the end of the six-month-long process in the form of valuable compost, or biomass and water
  • Leftover compost will be free of toxins and will not cause harm when the facility sells it for gardening or agricultural applications
• Unless otherwise denoted, certified compostable products must be disposed of in a designated municipal composting facility, not at home
• Certified compostable materials require higher temperatures in industrial settings to biodegrade quickly enough
• Organizations using composting


  • San Francisco International Airport
  • Safeco Field in Seattle
• Oxo-degradable plastics


  • Quickly fragment into smaller and smaller pieces, called microplastics
  • Do not break down at the molecular or polymer level like biodegradable and compostable plastics
  • Left in the environment indefinitely until they eventually fully break down
• Food packaging waste is an environmental concern due to some of its characteristics - Overpackaging
• Examples of overpackaging


  • Delivery of a small item in a much larger corrugated box, requiring air pillows for void-fill
  • Are these the most over-packaged products?
• Most food packaging is single-use
• Most food packaging is composed of non-biodegradable materials
• Food loss


  The decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retail, food service providers and consumers
• Food waste


  The decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by retailers, food services and consumers
• Food loss and waste are caused directly by the actions of food supply chain entities and indirectly by the environment in which they operate
• Food is lost and wasted in significant quantities
• Food waste (for the purposes of the Food Waste Index)


  Food (and the associated inedible parts) removed from the human food supply chain in the retail, food service, and household sectors, with end destinations including landfill, controlled combustion, sewer, litter/discards/refuse, co/anaerobic digestion, and compost/aerobic digestion
• Food (for the purposes of the Food Waste Index)


  Any substance - whether processed, semi-processed or raw - that is intended for human consumption, including drink and any substance used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of food. Food waste includes both edible parts and inedible parts.
• SDG 12.3 covers food and inedible parts that exit the supply chain and thus are lost or wasted, and is tracked through two indicators: 12.3.1(a) the Food Waste Index, and 12.3.1(b) the Food Loss Index
• Methods of food waste disposal

  • Incineration
  • Sewer
  • Litter/discards/refuse
  • Co/anaerobic digestion
  • Compost/aerobic digestion
  • Land application
• Food

  Any substance – whether processed, semi-processed or raw – that is intended for human consumption. Includes drink, and any substance used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of food.
• Food waste

  Includes both edible parts (parts intended for human consumption) and inedible parts (components associated with food that are not intended to be consumed by humans)
• Inedible parts associated with food

  • Bones, rinds and pits/stones
• SDG 12.3 Indicators

  Measure food loss and waste across the supply chain
• Food Loss Index

  Measures losses for key commodities in a country across the supply chain, up to but not including retail
• Food Waste Index


  Measures food waste at retail and consumer level (households and food service)