Sustainable Food Waste Recycling for the Circular Economy in Developing Countries, with Special Reference to Bangladesh
, Mithun Kumar Ghosh 3,†, Tofazzal Islam 4, Muhammad Bilal 5, Rakhi Nandi 2,6, Md Lamiur Raihan 7, Mohammad Nabil Hossain 8, Juwel Rana 9, Subrato Kumar Barman 10 and Jang-Eok Kim 2,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review the manuscript entitled “Sustainable food waste recycling for the circular economy in developing countries with special reference to Bangladesh”. The paper is well-written and organized and certainly contributing in literature and providing implications to practitioners specifically regarding sustainable food waste recycling and the measures which Bangladesh needs to be taken for transitioning into a circular-economy. I congratulate authors on putting a great effort to present this literature review. This indeed will help the economy to take corrective measures.
I only have once concern in this manuscript; in-text references are not aligned.
Author Response
Reply to Reviewer #1
Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review the manuscript entitled “Sustainable food waste recycling for the circular economy in developing countries with special reference to Bangladesh”. The paper is well-written and organized and certainly contributing in literature and providing implications to practitioners specifically regarding sustainable food waste recycling and the measures which Bangladesh needs to be taken for transitioning into a circular-economy. I congratulate authors on putting a great effort to present this literature review. This indeed will help the economy to take corrective measures.
Author reply: Thank you for your positive comment and concern about our submitted manuscript. The suggested revision was done and highlighted in red color for your kind evaluation.
I only have once concern in this manuscript; in-text references are not aligned.
Author reply: The authors are apologizing for this issue. The inconsistency of cited references was revised, as suggested. However, many popular and vital references were cited multiple times (4-5 times) in the manuscript, because the relevant references concerning food waste valorization and circular economy in Bangladesh are very limited. Thus, during drafting this review story, several vital references needed to be cited multiple times. Unless specified otherwise, all the revised references were aligned in this manuscript except several multiple cited references. Thank you for your kind consideration regarding this issue. If needed, the author will do this citation synchronization as per journal policy.
Reviewer 2 Report
1. The study I too general and the authors should discuss more about the case study (Bangladesh).
2. Kindly don’t cite references collectively, like [1, 7, 8, 9, 10], [14, 15, 16, 17], [18, 19, 20, 21], [2, 4, 6, 25], [12, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42], [8, 80, 84, 92]. You can discuss each of these reference in details.
3. The quality of the figures are low (especially Figure 1 and Figure 2). Please modify them.
4. Line 77: “1.11 × 107 metric tons” does not seem correct. It should be “1.11 × 107 metric tons”.
5. Line 125, Line 153, and Line 244: food wastage rate of 65 kg per capita per year of Bangladesh is referenced 3 time in the manuscript.
6. It is better to add economic dimensions of the different FW valorization technologies.
7. There is too many sections in the paper (13 sections).
8. The conclusion section is too short and the authors should discuss more about the value of FW valorization in Bangladesh.
Author Response
Reply to Reviewer #2
- The study I too general and the authors should discuss more about the case study (Bangladesh).
Author reply: Thank you for your crucial point. This study is focusing on the food waste valorization prospects in Bangladesh under the shade of global contemporary research concerning advanced food waste valorization approaches. The studies related to food waste valorization are limited in Bangladesh. Thus, this study is considered an opportunity study for future studies in this specific research field. However, as per suggestion, the case study of Bangladesh is highlighted both in the revised Introduction, Research gap (section 6), and Conclusion. Please see the red color highlighted sections of the revised manuscript.
- Kindly don’t cite references collectively, like [1, 7, 8, 9, 10], [14, 15, 16, 17], [18, 19, 20, 21], [2, 4, 6, 25], [12, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42], [8, 80, 84, 92]. You can discuss each of these reference in details.
Author reply: The spotted sections were revised for a specified and detailed discussion of those earlier studies. Please see the red color highlighted sections of the revised manuscript. However, [12, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42], references were listed in the table with the salient feature. Thus, the detailed discussion for this specified section is skipped to avoid redundancy.
- The quality of the figures are low (especially Figure 1 and Figure 2). Please modify them.
Author reply: As suggested, figure 1 and figure 2 were replaced with high-resolution figures. In addition, the other figures were also revised (either changed or modified), accordingly.
- Line 77: “1.11 × 107 metric tons” does not seem correct. It should be “1.11 × 107 metric tons”.
Author reply: Thank you for noting this issue. This is a typo. The suggested revision was done, accordingly.
- Line 125, Line 153, and Line 244: food wastage rate of 65 kg per capita per year of Bangladesh is referenced 3 time in the manuscript.
Author reply: Thank you for spotting this redundancy. The data “food wastage rate of 65 kg per capita per year of Bangladesh” is cited only once and the following redundant citing is deleted or revised suitably. Please see the revised section highlighted in red color.
- It is better to add economic dimensions of the different FW valorization technologies.
Author reply: Thank you for your kind opinion. The economic analysis of each FW valorization technology is widely varied. Based on the requirement, several studies such as LCA, pilot phase biorefinery, etc. were discussed toward conversion into the sustainable circular economy from the linear economy. These economic dimensions are dedicatedly discussed under revised section 5 (FW valorization and circular economy). Please see the revised manuscript highlighted in red color.
- There is too many sections in the paper (13 sections).
Author reply: Thanks for this comment. The sub-sections were revised (within 7 sections), accordingly.
- The conclusion section is too short and the authors should discuss more about the value of FW valorization in Bangladesh.
Author reply: As per suggestion, the revised conclusion is modified and focuses on the value and prospects of FW valorization in Bangladesh. In addition, before the conclusion, a dedicated “section 6. Research gap and opportunities of FW valorization in Bangladesh” is amended.
We have tried our level best to address all the spotted points and suggestions given by the reviewers and editors to make a major revision of the manuscript (Manuscript ID: sustainability-1912254). All the amended sections are highlighted using the red font color for prompt consideration by the reviewers and editors of the journal.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper is acceptable in its current form.
