Food Processing Industry Waste and Circular Economy

Abstract

The continuous rise in world human population increases the demand for food supply thereby increasing food wastage throughout the supply chain which results in environmental pollution and scarcity of natural resources. In addition, food processing industries produce huge quantity of inedible food waste. Land filling and incineration are not the promising approaches of food waste management system for environmental sustainability and economic viability. Recycle and reuse are the major principles of circular economy which focus on the energy and resource recovery from food waste for sustainable environment. Food wastes are mostly rich in organic matters such as carbohydrates, proteins and lipids which can be used as a feed stock for production and/or recovery of bio fertilizers, biofuels, bio gas, valuable bioactive compounds, natural nutrients and industrial enzymes by adapting suitable technologies including composting, anaerobic digestion, and fermentation. In addition, an integrated biological approach for recovery of energy and resources from food waste with the concept of zero solid discharge is found to be economically viable. This review highlights the technological advances in management of food waste including processing methods and product recovery.