Skip to main content
Duke University Libraries
DukeSpace Scholarship by Duke Authors
  • Login
  • Ask
  • Menu
  • Login
  • Ask a Librarian
  • Search & Find
  • Using the Library
  • Research Support
  • Course Support
  • Libraries
  • About
View Item 
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
  • View Item
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Identifying Strategies for Reducing Food Waste in NC Fresh Produce Supply Chains

View / Download
4.0 Mb
Date
2015-04-24
Author
Chappell, Eric
Advisor
Vermeer, Daniel
Repository Usage Stats
353
views
403
downloads
Abstract
In recent years, food waste has received an increasing amount of attention from academia, the media and private industry. Realizing that this waste is also destroying value, producers, grocers and other large generators of food waste are searching for alternate disposal strategies which can save them money while also reducing their environmental footprint. In this light, the US Environmental Protection Agency developed the Food Recovery Hierarchy, a tool which helps provide context and suggestions for waste diversion. This project specifically looks at shipments of fresh produce that have been rejected by the market. These rejections arise when there is an over supply of produce or a buyer rejects a shipment because of quality concerns. By scoping the issue within the framework of North Carolina, the issues, solutions and recommendations for additional diversion opportunities are more specific and can exist within a real world application. Through a series of qualitative interviews linked together within a framework that borrows from the grounded theory tradition, a number of success stories emerge. Through a mixture of vertical integration, economies of scale and economies, businesses within North Carolina are finding ways to increase the amount of waste they divert while still keeping their sight on their own bottom lines. More importantly, these interviews identify barriers to increasing diversion beyond current levels. Small- and medium-sized companies lack the time and capabilities to craft complex waste diversion strategies. Increasing transportation costs mean that producers of food waste are less incentivized to ship waste through diversion streams that are more poorly distributed. This leads many of those who do divert waste to use composting as a default diversion tactic, as it requires less time and expense to use a single diversion stream. State and local governments act as important players in increasing diversion activities. In North Carolina, the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources works to promote diversion activities in the state. Through programs such as NC Waste Trader, the state can provide visibility for diversion activities and help reduce some of the information barriers that come from a lack of scale.
Type
Master's project
Department
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Subject
Food Waste
Supply Chain
Agriculture
North Carolina
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9653
Citation
Chappell, Eric (2015). Identifying Strategies for Reducing Food Waste in NC Fresh Produce Supply Chains. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9653.
Collections
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
More Info
Show full item record
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment


Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info

Make Your Work Available Here

How to Deposit

Browse

All of DukeSpaceCommunities & CollectionsAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit Date

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

View Usage Statistics
Duke University Libraries

Contact Us

411 Chapel Drive
Durham, NC 27708
(919) 660-5870
Perkins Library Service Desk

Digital Repositories at Duke

  • Report a problem with the repositories
  • About digital repositories at Duke
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Deaccession and DMCA Takedown Policy

TwitterFacebookYouTubeFlickrInstagramBlogs

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
  • Re-use & Attribution / Privacy
  • Harmful Language Statement
  • Support the Libraries
Duke University