Avaliação do desperdício de alimentos em unidades de alimentação e nutrição - UAN: estudo sob a perspectiva da análise de fluxo de massa, ecoeficiência e equações estruturais

Abstract

Food waste is a reality faced and fought in most countries in the world, regardless of the volume of food produced. The present work proposes to present an evaluation of the dynamics of food waste in Food and Nutrition Units - UAN, from the perspective of Material Flow Analysis - MFA; Ecoefficiency – EE and Structural Equation Modeling – SEM. The general objective of this work is to present an evaluation of the dynamics of food waste through the joint evaluation of the MFA, EE, as well as to propose a structural model for the evaluation of food waste through the use of MEE as a tool to support decision making. As a method, an integrative literature review was carried out; implementation of the MFA by defining the limits of the addressed system (receipt/packaging, manipulation/preparation and distribution) and execution of the MFA by the STAN2.0 software; in the EE, the classes established were evaluated according to the cost associated with waste and their respective Water Footprint PH and Carbon Footprint PC; through the SEM, the structural theoretical model and its set of indicators were defined. The results indicate that (45.3 ± 1.4) t/month of input from the production system, about (23.5 ± 0.5) t/month became waste, approximately 51.87%. The analysis of the composition of the waste revealed that in relation to the total volume, 58% are related to the Correction Factor (FC), taking first place. In second place, intake/tray leftovers with 23% and in third place with 19% the waste of clean and dirty leftovers. The vegetable and leguminous/cereal classes had the highest volume of waste (7.6 ± 0.5) t/month and (6.18 ± 0.3) t/month, respectively, with a footprint for cereals of PH = 8.938l/ month and vegetables PH = 4.746 l/month per capita. While the Eco-efficiency-EE analysis indicated that the vegetables, legumes/cereals and meat classes had a higher cost associated with waste, the results of the MFA showed that the processing activities of the hot cooking function require special attention because they process more complex foods than point of view of its handling and preparation, requiring more energy, water and labor, when compared to the activities of the cold kitchen function. The SEM confirmed that the measurement model is close to the structural theoretical model, reinforcing that the causal relationships between the constructs are relevant to the model output. Hypotheses H3, H5, H6, H7 and H8 are more relevant to the model output, represented by the DS construct. The results of this work used jointly serve as an instrument for making more assertive decisions by managers in the face of the problem of food waste in UAN.