Comparing alternative scenarios of waste treatment: the case of food-waste production by the Mass-Retail Sector

Food-waste (FW) is one of the main problem of the Western countries; according to FAO the amount produced in the world is about 1.3 billion tonnes per year (1/3 of the total production of food for human consumption). The growing awareness for sustainable FW management strategies is driving an increase in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies in this sector. But from an analysis of LCAs published in international scientific journal emerged that, respect to the more general context of waste management, FW is less investigated. Furthermore, LCAs on FW are mainly focused on household consumption, while the level of mass-retail and retail is less studied. The aim of this study is to assess the potential environmental impacts related to five different scenarios (landfilling, incineration, production of compost/biogas/dry feed) for the treatment of FW produced by a mass-retail company operating in Messina (Italy), in order to identify eco-efficient solutions of FW management.