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A system dynamics model for evaluating food waste management in Hong Kong, China

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Abstract

Of landfilled municipal solid waste in Hong Kong, 33.2% is attributed to food waste. The government has set a waste reduction target to reduce by 40% the current food waste disposal at landfills by 2022 and has launched various policies and strategies to achieve this target. The Hong Kong Government is eager to control the utilisation level of food waste through various policies and the food waste conversion by a newly adopted Organic Waste Treatment Facility. In this study, the current landfill situation and the effectiveness of food waste policies are investigated using a system dynamics approach to study the dynamics and interrelationships in food waste management. The model is used to forecast the effectiveness of the food waste management in different scenarios. Among these scenarios, adopting Organic Waste Treatment Facility and implementing a quantity–volume-based charging scheme are examined. Although improvements are expected to be made after implementing these policies when compared to the current trends, the model output indicates that without any other new policy or action plan, it is difficult to achieve the objectives set by the government. Suggestions are made so as to improve the effectiveness of food waste management in the future.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Our gratitude is also extended to the Research Committee and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China

    C. K. M. Lee, K. K. H. Ng, C. K. Kwong & S. T. Tay

Authors
  1. C. K. M. Lee
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  2. K. K. H. Ng
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  3. C. K. Kwong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. K. H. Ng.

Appendix

Appendix

Appendix A: Structure of the stock flow diagram in the model

See Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 8
figure 8

Basic elements in the stock flow diagram

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Fig. 9
figure 9

Structure of the system dynamics model for food waste management from each sub-model

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Appendix B: Variables affecting food waste generation

See Table 2.

Table 2 Variables affecting food waste generation
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Appendix C: Parameters used in the simulation model

See Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3 Source of data
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Table 4 Parameter setting in the system dynamics model
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Appendix D: The results for model analysis

See Figs. 10, 11 and Tables 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Fig. 10
figure 10

The result of OWTF treatment volume with different utilization rates

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Fig. 11
figure 11

The situation of the three strategic landfills’ remaining capacity

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Table 5 Simulated result of annual food waste sent to landfills and annual expenditure on food waste management in 2015–2024
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Table 6 Simulated result of waste generated for each scenario by year
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Table 7 Simulated result of the government expenditure for each scenario by year
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Table 8 Simulated result of the OWTF treatment volume for scenario 1
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Appendix E: Sensitivity analysis

See Figs. 12, 13 and 14.

Fig. 12
figure 12

Simulated result for the food waste generation with various GDP per capita

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Fig. 13
figure 13

Simulated result for the food waste generation with various GDP growth rate

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Fig. 14
figure 14

Simulated result for the food waste generation with various total number of tourists to Hong Kong

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Appendix F: Model equations

figure a
figure b
figure c
figure d

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Lee, C.K.M., Ng, K.K.H., Kwong, C.K. et al. A system dynamics model for evaluating food waste management in Hong Kong, China. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21, 433–456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-018-0804-8

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