System Engineering and Productivity

System Engineering and Productivity

Identify and Evaluate Strategies Related to Reducing Fruit and Vegetable Waste at the Retail and Consumer Levels

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mahsa Pishdar 1
Mohammad Reza Seyyed Hashemi 2
Adel Pourghader Chobar 3
Mohamad Saleh Sadri 4
1 Corresponding author: Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Faculty of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Humanities, Sohrevardi Institute of Higher Education, Qazvin, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran
4 M.Sc., Department of Industrial Management and Technology, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Faculty of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran
10.22034/msb.2024.2031452.1213
Abstract
Increasing global warming, industrialization of societies, increasing supply and demand, and decreasing non-renewable resources have faced a fundamental challenge in the production sector. Given this necessity, the main issue of the present study is related to determining the reasons for creating and evaluating strategies related to reducing waste of items. The study population of this study generally includes experts and specialists active in the fruit and vegetable supply chain who are familiar with the concept of recycling and waste reduction management system and their operational definition is stated in the text. The non-probability sampling method is purposeful (judgmental) and snowball sampling. After studying the literature, the reasons and strategies were provided to the experts to be finalized with the help of the Delphi method. Then, the Swara method (step-by-step evaluation analysis of weights) was used to weight the strategies. Accordingly, it was found that “Improvement in transportation, handling, and storage to prevent damage and spoilage of items” and “Providing items in accordance with customer demand” ranked first and second in the category of strategies for reducing item waste in the retail sector and also, the strategies “Regular purchasing behavior, and conscious use” and “Education and awareness in schools” ranked first and second in the category of strategies for reducing item waste in the customer sector. Considering the results obtained, future researchers are advised to explain the roadmap for implementing the strategies identified in the present study.

Highlights

  • The main issue of this research is the strategies related to reducing item waste.
  • Reasons and strategies have been finalized with the help of Delphi method.

Keywords
Fruit and vegetable waste
Strategies for reducing waste produced
SWARA technique
Delphi method
Subjects

Copyright ©, Mahsa Pishdar, Mohammad Reza Seyyed Hashemi, Adel Pourghader Chobar, Mohamad Saleh Sadri

 

License

This article is released under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone is free to copy, share, translate, and adapt this article for any purpose, whether commercial or non-commercial, as long as proper citation is given to the authors and original publication.

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System Engineering and Productivity
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 11
Serial No. 11, Summer Quarterly
Summer 2024
Pages 17-30

  • Receive Date 23 July 2023
  • Revise Date 15 March 2024
  • Accept Date 08 July 2024
  • First Publish Date 21 September 2024
  • Publish Date 21 September 2024