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28 Bioconversion of Food Waste to Wealth – Circular Bioeconomy Approach

spent brewer’s grain, wheat straw, rice husk, and citrus peel) of food supply chain

waste is required for production of marketable products with cost-effectiveness of

the process. Major components present in the citrus fruit peel are pectin, flavonoid,

and cellulose [4].

28.3

Food Waste Management Current Practices

Food waste is a global issue, according to FAO, every year one-third of the food pro-

duced for human consumption is wasted globally and it is approximately amounting

to 3.3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere

and up to US$ 750 billion direct annual economic loss. There is a continuous debate

on reduction of food waste for sustainable society and environment. Reducing the

food waste and food loss are the key issues associated with sustainable development.

Food sustainability index is defined as the ability of country’s food system to be

maintained without depletion or exhaustion of its natural assets or compromises

to its population’s health without compromising future generation’s access to

food [10]. Food waste is defined as “the amount of food wasted in food service

chains, with ‘food’ referring to edible products for human consumption” [11]. Food

waste is also defined as “end products of various food processing industries that have

not been used or recycled for other purposes and they are the non-product flows of

raw materials whose economic value is less than the cost of collection, recovery and

reuse; therefore, discarded as waste” [12]. Generation of huge volume of organic

waste from meat, fruit and vegetable, and dairy processing industries is a major issue

worldwide. This abundant volume of waste generated throughout the food supply

chain has significant potential for the production of novel value-added materials,

biofuels, and chemicals, as an alternate approach to the conventional practices such

as animal feed, composting, landfilling, and incineration. Wastes generated in each

process of the supply chain are organic in nature and are characterized by associated

chemical and biological oxygen demand, fluctuating chemical composition, and pH

due to seasonal variations, rapid bacterial contamination, high moisture content,

and high accumulation rate [4]. Advanced valorization practices are essential to

overcome significant issues associated with conventional food waste management

system including (i) reducing landfill options, (ii) increased greenhouse gas emis-

sions, (iii) groundwater pollution through leaching of inorganic matter and (iv)

low efficiency [12]. Heterogeneous composition (protein, carbohydrate, and fat),

fluctuating volumes, high water content, and low calorific value are the challenges

related to the development of large-scale industrial waste management practices.

Waste valorization is the process of transforming the waste into wide range of

valuable products and has a great potential to provide economic and environmental

benefits [13]. The viability of extracting valuable compounds from food waste and

assessment of potential uses of such compounds need to be explored.

Life cycle assessment is a powerful tool to quantify and to identify the pros and

cons of different food waste management system and its environmental impacts.

Most life cycle assessment on food products mainly focused on farm level. Food