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Forest fires due to pine needles in the northwestern Himalayas during summers are a very common phenomenon every year causing major harm to flora and fauna. They are a major contributor to climate change as forest fires destroy hectares of land covered by forest and emit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. One possible solution to this problem is to generate energy from the bio residue of pine tree. This paper intends to identify, categorize and prioritize the major factors that hinders and are barriers to energy generation using pine needles in the state of Uttarakhand, India. This paper adopts a multi-criteria decision-making approach based on the technique of fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process. Sensitivity analysis is also used to test the robustness of this technique. The study finds that Legal and regulatory factors are the most critical and categorized as major influences of such renewable energy generation project, which includes government policy, project guidelines, financial support, technical support, and government clearances. The second barrier is economic which majorly includes cost factor associated with the development and sustenance of such energy generation projects. Technological and market related factors are next on the priority to energy generation using pine needles through limitations such as topography, hilly terrain, seasonal availability, supply chain, poor marketing. Human resource barriers stands at the fifth place and has less influence on such energy generation initiatives. This paper will help the policy makers to understand the priorities while solving energy generation issues to reduce forest fires and contribute to mitigate climate change. • To categorize the major factors negatively affecting energy generation using Pine needles. • To assess and prioritize these barriers. • To deliver managerial and practical implications for these barriers. • Legal and regulatory most critical barrier to pine needle based energy generation. • Lack of proper marketing has topmost global ranking as barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste management is a growing environmental and economic issue for a developing country like India. This exploratory paper aims to prioritize key practices as "criteria" for food supply chains that lead to food waste reduction to ensure green waste management. Twenty-five criteria from the existing literature and expert inputs were assessed to resolve food waste reduction issues in food supply chains, especially in the agricultural sectors. The study identifies and ranks the intensities of each of the listed criteria. In the study, the Best-Worst Method, a multi-criteria decision-making approach, is applied. According to the findings, waste prevention at the earlier stages of food supply chains is given more priority compared to food waste minimization and treatment at the later stages. Hence, the study concludes "skill and training" as the highest ranked criteria, followed by "protection and infrastructure." Further, the study infers that understanding the individual intensities of criteria within a food supply chain can affect waste generation at each level, having a significant impact on waste reduction. The data in this research was evaluated in the Indian context. • Explores the green waste management problem in food supply chains. • 25 sub-criteria & 5 main criteria are listed in the circular economy context. •Conducted an empirical case study in the Uttarakhand region in India. • The Best Worst Method is used to evaluate the outcomes. • Training of growers is ranked as the topmost criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]