This study applies a triple bottom line (TBL) framework that incorporates the environmental, economic, and social impacts of producing animal feed from food waste (FW) collected at the post-consumption stage of the food supply chain. The environmental bottom line (BL) is conducted using life cycle assessment (LCA), the economic BL is calculated using the net present value (NPV), while the social BL is assessed using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. The results within the environmental BL indicate that at a 13.8% recovery rate, animal feed produced from a ton of FW saves 0.33 m 2 equivalent of crop land but requires 3.5 tons of water compared to 0.9 tons and 0.78 tons for landfilling and incineration for FW treatment respectively. In addition, the production of animal feed from one ton of FW emits 1064.6 kg CO 2 -eq, compared to 823.6 kg CO 2 -eq using landfilling and 781.9 kg CO 2 -eq when incinerated. The economic BL indicates a profit of $3.65/ton from incinerating FW, compared to cost of $93.8 and $137.6 per ton for animal feed production and landfilling of FW respectively. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to integrate the TBL scores and rank the scenarios accordingly. AHP recommends animal feed and incineration over landfilling by a fourfold higher score. A simulation using an augmented simplex lattice mixture (ASLM) design recommends incineration with energy recovery over animal feed production from FW collected at the consumer stage. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the production of animal feed from FW is environmentally feasible if the safe recovery rate exceeds 48%, is which possible for FW collected at early stages of the food supply chain. Graphical Abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.