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Food waste is a serious problem worldwide. There is a lot of waste in the food sector, while we still have a significant percentage of people who do not have enough to have a food that can cure their hunger. These asymmetries generate many controversies around the world. This study aimed to map the amount of food waste generated in restaurants located in a medium-size city in the south of Brazil as soon as generate alternatives to increase the circularity of wasted food. A survey was carried out based on the database of companies registered in the city hall files, where 177 valid responses were obtained. The results show that the largest wasted volumes generated in the three stages of food production analyzed in this research are vegetables, carbohydrates, meat and bones. However, this order is reversed when we consider the loss of revenue caused by waste: meat and bones, followed by vegetables and carbohydrates. Considering a total of 177 establishments surveyed, there is an average waste of 339 kg/month (or 13 kg/day) per restaurant, with loss of revenue of R$ 2577.85/month/establishment. These results are significant indicators that justify investments to reduce these losses and also to identify new ways to take advantage of the surplus materials, so that they can generate a second use for some other productive segment or chain. The study contributes to this discussion by presenting ways to increase the circularity of wasted food. It represents an important contribution to rethink food waste and make it an alternative for efficient and optimized use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Output decomposition is considered into the estimation of the panel data cost efficiency of waste management service. • Results show that panel data cost efficiency is increased with selective collection. • Municipal direct provision is the least efficient management form for this service. • Panel data cost efficiency is positively related with progressive and coalition governments, a greater financial independence, a greater tourist and industrial activity and a greater proportion of women and of foreign-born residents. In recent years, concerns about the increasing generation of municipal solid waste, together with related health and environmental issues and regulatory changes, have motivated significant alterations in the provision of waste management services, such as the introduction of selective collection (by type of waste). However, these changes may impact on service costs and/or efficiency. The present study was undertaken to analyse the efficiency of the waste management service in Spain, using data from 283 municipalities for the period 2005–2015. The analysis consists of two phases: first, the application of panel data order-m frontiers, that allows to obtain a homogeneous estimation of efficiency based on the input–output relationship at the production process (Surroca et al., 2016), and second, the use of bootstrapped truncated regression, considering different municipal sizes. The results obtained show that cost efficiency is increased with selective collection and by certain political and socio-economic factors of the local governments, concretely with the government by a progressive party, coalition governments, a greater financial independence, a greater tourist and industrial activity and a greater proportion of women and of foreign-born residents in the municipality. We also show that municipal direct provision is the least efficient management form for this service. The main contribution made by this study is to examine the influence of different elements of service output (i.e., selection by type of waste vs. non-selection) on cost efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's already-stressed waste disposal system has been strained by the COVID-19 outbreak. The challenge of managing biomedical Waste (BMW) in India has become more complicated in recent years, mainly due to the sudden emergence of COVID-19. As a methodology, a literature review was carried out with the help of Google Scholar, Research Gate, PubMed, and academic journal databases. Additionally, publications from numerous non-academic sources (such as news websites etc.) and current guidelines, such as those from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, were also accessed. The review study identifies that PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) made up the majority of biomedical waste, followed by vaccine waste, during the peak of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The increase in PPEs such as face masks, aprons, face shields, gloves, goggles, and sanitizers, as well as other medical waste like bandages, plastic containers, syringes, testing kits, and tissues, has significantly changed the makeup of the BMW. This pandemic has hampered the proper management of solid waste, which has now surfaced as a major threat to developing countries. In this paper, biomedical waste management strategies followed in India and its disposal methods, cost-effective and environment-friendly methods to treat medical waste are also discussed.