Optimizing food waste management in Tehran: A SWOT analysis and strategic recommendations

One of the most key tasks of municipalities is to take the necessary measures to quickly, optimally and correctly collect the waste generated by citizens within the city. In addition, the production of large volume of waste in the city and improper management can lead to many environmental issues. The present study was implemented in Tehran to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of food waste management and developing its strategies. Twenty-nine experts in the field of waste and environmental management were selected and studied using purposive snowball sampling method. In this study, SWOT analysis was used to develop strategies. After examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, a total of 9 defense strategies were extracted using the internal and external factors assessment matrix. In addition, quantitative strategic planning matrix was used to prioritize strategies, among which " strengthen citizen participation in the field of waste management" and "realization of diversification into the financial and revenue resources of the waste management system" strategies were ranked first and second, respectively. Finally, some suggestions were made in the form of action plans to implement the identified strategies.