Oct 16 2020  Dr. Callie Babbitt, Rochester Institute of Technology
Title:   Creating a sustainable food waste management ecosystem
Registration HERE

Abstract:

Consumption, freshwater resource impact, and economic costs.  This presentation will overview some representative examples of sustainable food waste solutions using a case study of New York State, and in particular, the urban-rural linkage between Rochester, NY and the surrounding Finger Lakes region Food waste is a critical sustainability challenge at the food, energy, and water nexus: vast energy and water resources are consumed in food production, but due to inefficiencies at each stage in its supply chain, about 40% of food will never reach human consumption. In the United States, food waste is typically landfilled, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions, economic losses, and social impacts. Sustainable approaches to minimize and manage food waste are available, but face barriers to widespread adoption, particularly due to complex and poorly-understood interdependencies between food, energy, and water systems. For example, food waste treatment via anaerobic digestion can generate biogas used for fuel or electricity, but economic viability depends on food waste feedstocks, regionally-variable tipping fees, electricity prices, and state-level renewable energy and climate policy. Anaerobic digestion also produces byproducts, including a nutrient-rich digestate that may be beneficially used for agriculture or require extra cost for treatment required by water pollution standards.

Our research uses concepts and methods from Industrial Ecology to identify and analyze the actors and interactions necessary to create a sustainable food waste “ecosystem.” This holistic approach aims to first examine the role of firms, technology, system design, and policy as enablers of food waste management at different scales and under different geospatial constraints. Research then evaluates these potential interventions in terms of their benefits and trade-offs between waste minimization, greenhouse gas emissions, energy con.

Bio:

Dr. Callie Babbitt is an Associate Professor in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, where she conducts research to proactively quantify and minimize environmental impacts of emerging technologies.  Callie’s research group uses methods from circular economy, eco-design, and life cycle assessment to study sustainability challenges and create solutions for consumer electronics, plastics waste, lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, nanomaterials, and food waste management.  Callie has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from University of Florida. Callie is a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career (CAREER) Award and the AT&T Technology and Environment Award.