International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER), Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
Department of Management and Business, Kindai University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Aug;29(40):61187-61203. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20221-1. Epub 2022 Apr 19.
Converting food waste into animal feed is highly useful for tackling the problem of food waste, which is particularly severe in developed countries. This study quantified the inefficiencies in converting food waste into animal feed and identified the sources of inefficiencies through a data envelopment analysis (DEA) of the monthly input-output data of two food waste-based animal feed producers in Japan. Our empirical analysis revealed that the producers of animal feed obtained from food waste (especially those treating food waste from retail and service industries) demonstrated inefficiencies in production technology and scale; moreover, expanding the production scale and improving the quality of food waste could enhance production efficiency. Based on the empirical results, specific policy implications were provided for the widespread use of animal feed obtained from food waste in Japan and elsewhere, globally. Furthermore, it was suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a severe reduction in the production efficiency of animal feed producers treating food waste obtained from retail and service industries.
将食物垃圾转化为动物饲料，对于解决食物浪费问题非常有用，而在发达国家，食物浪费问题尤为严重。本研究通过对日本两家以食物垃圾为原料的动物饲料生产商的月度投入产出数据进行数据包络分析（DEA），量化了将食物垃圾转化为动物饲料的效率低下问题，并确定了效率低下的来源。我们的实证分析表明，以食物垃圾为原料生产动物饲料的生产商（特别是那些处理来自零售和服务业的食物垃圾的生产商）在生产技术和规模方面存在效率低下的问题；此外，扩大生产规模和提高食物垃圾的质量可以提高生产效率。基于实证结果，为在日本乃至全球范围内广泛使用以食物垃圾为原料的动物饲料提供了具体的政策建议。此外，研究还表明，新冠疫情导致处理来自零售和服务业的食物垃圾的动物饲料生产商的生产效率严重下降。
