Role of compostable tableware in food service and waste management. A life cycle assessment study.

It is estimated that in Europe 88-100 million tonnes of food waste are generated every year, with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of around 227 MT of CO equivalents generated for their collection and disposal. A 12% of this waste is estimated to arise from food service within the hospitality sector, which includes quick service restaurants, casual and fine dining, contract catering (canteens, prisons, hospitals, schools etc.) as well as indoor and outdoor events and exhibitions.

Compostable cutlery and waste management: an LCA approach.

The use of disposable cutlery in fast food restaurants and canteens in the current management scenario generates mixed heterogeneous waste (containing food waste and non-compostable plastic cutlery). The waste is not recyclable and is disposed of in landfills or incinerated with or without energy recovery. Using biodegradable and compostable (B&C) plastic cutlery, an alternative management scenario is possible.

Phenols and bud dormancy I. Variations in total phenols and phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity in dormant buds of Fagus sylvatica L.

Quantitative analyses of the total phenols (glucosides and aglycones and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity were determined separately in bud scales and the leaf primordia of dormant buds (apical, subapical and basal) of Fagus sylvatica L, until bud burst. In all the leaf primordia, the phenol and glucoside contents did not change substantially from November to March. From dormancy break to bud burst, phenols and glucosides accumulated in the subapical and basal buds.