Introduction to food waste treament: The 14001 standards

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the main ideas concerning treatment of food waste in the spirit of the standards and directives of the EU and to examine the environmental performance of the food industry as it seeks to comply with the ISO 14001 standards. How is the food scientist and=or engineer going to comply with these requirements? Basic tools in the hands of the food scientist and=or engineer is the knowledge of physical and physicochemical properties of the foods, the mass and energy balances, the application of these principles to the unit operations, and unit processes taken place in the industry or activity of concern. This enables the food scientist and=or engineer to predict the quantities and compositions of the various streams, especially those of the effluents. Then the environmental behavior of the organization could be obtained. From this point and on the remediation tactics and strategies could be followed. Life cycle analysis is important because not only the inputs and outputs of a given food industry or in general food activity is of importance for the environment but also the pre- and posthistory. Usually the input to an organization is the output of another organization and vice versa. Environmental aspects of a food endeavor is not a onetime concern. In the beginning, we ensure compliance with the environmental laws and regulations. Follow up is also a requirement set by the EU directives. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.