Rural household food waste characteristics and driving factors in China

Li, Yunyun; Wang, Ling-en; Liu, Gang; Cheng, Shikun

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105209

Cited by 84 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Food waste reduction is stated as one of the most important goals to promote eco-civilization and sustainable development in China ( 25 ). Recently, some studies found that rural households generated more food wastes than their urban counterparts based on provincial surveys, and that plant-based food wastes, half of which were attributed to vegetables, were the main components of rural household waste generations ( 25 , 39 , 40 ). Meanwhile, wasted cereal was regarded as the food type with the most embedded environmental impacts, including land, water, and carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus footprints ( 34 , 39 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, corresponding countermeasures concerning residential behavior, storage facility, and policy intervention, which should be promoted by regional governments, were put forward as follows: First, moderate purchase of vegetables and fruits enough for a daily diet should be encouraged. The relatively lower cost of vegetables and fruits with big discounts always resulted in excess purchasing, causing higher waste generation, especially for low-income households ( 25 ). Second, rural households in residential communities (or villages) could be equipped with larger refrigeration facilities for centralized food storage.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Last but not least, participating in the “clean plate action” is an effective approach for rural residents to reduce Nr loss during food production and consumption, corresponding to the recent launch of “anti-food waste law” in April 2021 in China, which provides a long-term legal system of better rules on daily catering to reduce food waste toward national food safeguard. Young people should be the target of propagandizing for “clean plate action,” since they commonly generate more food wastes ( 25 ). Overall, food waste reduction, especially for wasted vegetables, could be an effective approach to reduce food NFs in rural areas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increased consumption of animal-derived types of food indicates a higher personal food NF for daily diets of citizens, resulting in growth of the national food N footprint ( 6 , 15 ). The above-mentioned studies revealed that food NF in urban households are higher than that in rural households; however, due to unbalanced distribution of waste recycling and treatment facilities in different regions, it is important to reduce the food NFs of rural households to improve surrounding environmental conditions and realize rural rejuvenation in China ( 25 ). Pang et al ( 26 ) found that in Chinese agricultural watersheds, 56% of N was lost to the water environment, resulting in accelerated eutrophication, and that only 5% of N could be consumed by local residents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking Dietary Patterns to Environmental Degradation: The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Rural Food Nitrogen Footprints in China

Xian

Gong

et al. 2021

Front. Nutr.

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Background: China has a large emerging economy that illustrates how dietary patterns can affect food-source nitrogen (N) cycling. The indicator of food nitrogen footprint (NF) reflects the amount of reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions and impacts of these emissions on the environment. It is a result of food production and consumption to satisfy basic dietary demands of a given population. Different from urban food consumption with improved waste treatment, rural food consumption significantly affects the environment from food production to waste disposal. We therefore, performed a nationwide case study to link dietary patterns to environmental degradation based on rural food NF accounting.Methods: The N-Calculator model was adopted to reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics of food NFs per capita, and regional food NFs related to rural diets in China from 2000 to 2019. Then, food-source Nr emissions to regional environment were quantified based on food NF accounting and relevant inventory of regional Nr emissions.Results: (i) The average annual food NF per-capita in rural regions was lower than that of its national counterpart, but exhibited regional differences, mainly attributed to the dietary role of cereals. (ii) There existed significant spatiotemporal characteristics among regional food NFs that were mainly contributed by plant-derived food consumptions (73%). Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, and Hunan exhibited larger regional food NFs, and Beijing, Shanghai, and Tibet showed a growth in NFs, wherein rural diets were dominated by animal-derived food. (iii) Rural diets affected the environment by the pathways of ammonia and nitrous oxide volatilization processes, as well as Nr loss to water, accounting for a 33, 5, and 62% average of food NFs across regions. (iv) Although current rural dietary patterns suggest reliance on cereal and vegetable consumptions, more animal-derived types of food would be consumed as urbanization continues, especially in developed regions, creating a barrier for further reduction in national food NF.Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of changing dietary patterns to the human health-environment dilemma. Strategies that include improvements in N recycling rates, adjustments in dietary patterns, and reductions in food wastes could mitigate regional N pollution with rural dietary shifts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Linking Dietary Patterns to Environmental Degradation: The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Rural Food Nitrogen Footprints in China

Xian

Gong

et al. 2021

Front. Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In China, the food structure of residents is transforming from vegetable fiber orientation to animal fat and high protein orientation. FAO statistics on the food supply of countries and regions indicate that per capita nutritional level of the Chinese Mainland is close to Japan, Taiwan and Korea, which is 3 kcal each day [ 35 , 36 ]. Consumer demand tends to be more about the nutrient content of a grain crop than its type.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Adjustment of China’s Grain Planting Structure Reduced the Consumption of Cropland and Water Resources

Wang

Dai

2021

IJERPH

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Driven by technological progress and market demand, the optimization and adjustment of grain planting structure played an important role in increasing grain output. Due to the great difference between the yield per unit area of different types of food crops, the consumption of cropland and water resources has a significant change during the grain growth. From the perspective of structural adjustment, rather than the usual productive factor input, we analyze the process of adjustment for grain planting structure in China and its effect on the consumption of cropland and water resources by using the scenario comparative analysis method. The results show that: (1) From 2003 to 2019, China’s grain output has increased steadily and the planting structure has changed greatly. Rice was replaced by corn to become the grain crop with the maximum proportion of planting area since 2007. The increase of corn planting structure proportion is concentrated in the northern regions. (2) At the national level, according to the adjustment of grain planting structure, the saving of cropland and water resources consumption showed a “cumulative effect” as time went on. (3) The saving effects of structural adjustment in the northern regions on cropland and water resources consumption are better than that in the southern regions, such as Northeast China Plain, Northern arid and semiarid region and Loess Plateau. (4) In reality, although the adjustment of grain planting structure saved lots of cropland and water resources, the continuous growth of grain output has increased the pressure on the ecological environment in the northern regions according to theirs water limits. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously optimize the grain planting structure and restrict land reclamation in northern China. In addition, to ensure food security, it is feasible to encourage the southern regions with abundant water and heat resources to increase the grain planting area and meet its self-sufficiency in grain demand.

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Aryl sulfonic acid catalysts: Effect of pendant group structure on activity in hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate

Abedsoltan

Coleman

2022

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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A series of aryl sulfonic acids were tested as catalysts for acid hydrolysis occurring at the surface of poly(ethylene) terephthalate (PET) particles. Specifically, p‐toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (PTSA), 2‐naphthalenesulfonic acid (2‐NSA), and 1,5‐naphthalenedisulfonic acid tetrahydrate (1,5‐NDSA) were chosen to provide sulfonic acid active groups and varying hydrophobic functionality. The effect of catalyst concentration and reaction temperature on PET hydrolysis rate was studied. The aryl sulfonic acid catalysts exhibited much higher rates of PET hydrolysis than the mineral acid, H2SO4. At 150°C and 4 M catalyst, the time required to achieve more than 90% TPA yield was 3, 3, and 8 h, and 18 h for (PTSA), (2‐NSA), (1,5‐NDSA), and H2SO4, respectively. Ethyl acetate hydrolysis was performed as a model reaction to probe the activity of the catalysts in homogenous reactions to compare with the heterogenous hydrolysis reaction occurring at the PET surface. The higher catalytic activities for PET hydrolysis of the PTSA, 2‐NSA, and 1,5‐NDSA than H2SO4 was attributed to improved wetting by the reaction media and affinity of the aryl sulfonic acid catalysts for the PET surface.

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Rural household food waste characteristics and driving factors in China

Cited by 84 publications

References 59 publications

Linking Dietary Patterns to Environmental Degradation: The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Rural Food Nitrogen Footprints in China

Linking Dietary Patterns to Environmental Degradation: The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Rural Food Nitrogen Footprints in China

The Adjustment of China’s Grain Planting Structure Reduced the Consumption of Cropland and Water Resources

Aryl sulfonic acid catalysts: Effect of pendant group structure on activity in hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate

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