Abstract
Food waste (FW) poses significant risks to the sustainability of our food supply chains and systems. Considerable contributors to waste from the food supply chain include open markets, landfills, and marketplaces. Bio-circular-green (BCG) therefore aims to transform society by turning FW into value-added products using technology and innovation as a sensible solution to the problem of FW. The advancement of creative technologies and alternative agricultural practices have been presented in response to this rising issue. FW valorization provides a huge prospective solution both economically and environmentally. This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the valorization of FW into biofuels, biochemicals, biofertilisers, and biopolymers. Current approaches and their challenges for bioprocessing FW to create concepts for BCG, with a focus on its contribution to income production as value-added products are covered. Challenges and constraints together with strategies for overcoming them are also presented along with future perspectives.
TopBackground
Food valorisation or bio-refinery concept, which involves recycling FW to create useful products and energy, is quickly gaining interest in the scientific world as a sustainable solution to climate change crisis. The biotechnological transformation of such waste through anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and composting approaches yields bio-refinery products including biofuels, biomass, biofertilisers, and secondary chemicals (A Schieber, 2001). Waste from the agro-food industry have also been effectively transformed into bio-based adsorbents that are useful for bioremediation of a variety of contaminants from wastewater. Another feature of the bio-refinery concept is the recovery of high value-added components and their reuse as food additives and medicines. (Han and Shin, 2004, Wang et al., 2005, Sonja et al., 2009, Zhang et al., 2013). Through a combination of biochemical, chemical, thermal, and physical methods, the value-added elements which are found in the food matrices are carefully isolated and subsequently upcycled into additives or higher-value food products.
FW from sources, such as agro-businesses, municipalities, food processing plants, and dairy industries contaminate the air, groundwater, and soil, that poses a major risk to both ecological health and human health. With the main aim to minimize the load on landfills, scientific communities are actively developing innovative and effective technologies for recycling FW. Accordingly, using a biorefinery approach to create bio-based products from organic waste has been seen as a feasible alternative. Through this FW valorising strategy, it is possible to create a variety of bioproducts such as biofuels, biopolymers, biopesticides, biofertilisers, and bio-surfactants.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Food Waste: The recovery or disposal of any food or inedible food components that are removed from the food supply chain
Food Waste Valorisation: The process of converting food waste resources into added value and usable products by reusing, recycling, or composting which contributes back to the supply chain.
Bio-products: Substances that are made from renewable biological resources, including materials, chemicals, and energy.
Bio-Circular-Green Economy: The generation of renewable biological resources through reuse and recycling and their transformation into value added products while maintaining the harmony of the economy, society, and environment, leading to sustainable development.
Biocircular Economy: An economic system that stresses the utilisation of renewable resources and places a strong emphasis on minimising waste.