XIAOWEN NI
McGill University, PhD Bioresource Engineering
EREF Scholar 2025
Food Waste in Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Sectors: Generation, Valorization, and Management
Food waste is increasingly recognized as a critical environmental, economic, and social issue, contributing to resource inefficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions across the food supply chain. In Canada, recent estimates are at approximately 60% of food waste is avoidable, and that the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector could play a disproportionately large role in mitigating this waste due to its scale and diversity of operations. I will draw on the circular bioeconomy framework that diverts food waste from landfills and reintroduces food (or its organic resources) into productive use through prevention, redistribution, valorization, and composting. In my proposed research, I aim to: (1) Employ a standardized classification of ICI sectors and estimate the spatial magnitude and uncertainty of food waste disposal across these sectors; (2) Investigate sector- specific diversion practices, barriers, and enabling factors through qualitative and survey-based methods; (3) Integrate spatial and operational data on food waste patterns into a spatial optimization approach for scenario analysis to identify strategies that most reduce disposal and increase diversion in the ICI sector. As Canada’s second-largest metropolitan area, Montreal represents a particularly relevant case because of its dense concentration of ICI facilities, evolving municipal waste policies, and ongoing efforts to improve organic waste diversion. Altogether, my research will provide a comprehensive assessment of food waste generation and diversion behaviors across the ICI sector of a major Canadian city, offering both quantitative and qualitative insights into how waste is produced, managed, and diverted. By linking spatial modeling, the governance and operational analysis, the approach I develop could be the basis for a decision-support framework for urban waste planners and policymakers. The findings will inform targeted interventions, aid planning of infrastructure for waste diversion, and contribute to the broader discourse on sustainable food waste governance in urban contexts.
Biography
Xiaowen Ni was born in Suzhou, China and completed her undergraduate studies in Physical Geography at Beijing Forestry University from 2016 to 2020. During her time there, she developed strong technical skills in geographic information systems (e.g., ArcGIS) and gained a robust interdisciplinary foundation spanning climatology, hydrology, ecology, and botany. She then earned her master’s degree in Natural Resource Science from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023, where she worked as a research assistant in a national food waste project team. Her work involved field investigations across multiple Chinese cities, helping to assemble one of the most comprehensive datasets on food waste in China to date. This research supported policy efforts that contributed to the landmark passage of China’s 2021 Anti-Food Waste Law, the first such legislation in a developing country. In 2023, Xiaowen began her PhD program in Bioresource Engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her research focuses on industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) food waste systems, integrating spatial analysis, stakeholder perspectives, and resource optimization approaches. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background in geography, environmental policy, and systems engineering, Xiaowen’s work seeks to inform sustainable food waste management strategies at the urban scale. She has presented her research at four international conferences and is an active member of CSBE and ASABE. She also served as a volunteer at the 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting in Toronto. Xiaowen anticipates completing her doctoral studies in 2027. Outside of academics, Xiaowen enjoys traveling, reading, and playing the piano.
