Food Waste Management and Sustainability

The issue of food waste has become a topic of ever increasing interest over the past decade. With a growing global population now reaching over 8 billion, the demand for food has also continued to rise. Unfortunately, as food production increases, so too does the volume of waste and byproducts from the supply chain. With current practices such as landfill, open air burning and leaving waste to rot contributing significantly towards GHG and air pollution issues, there is increasing pressure to deal with byproducts from the agriculture and food manufacturing sector more sustainably. Notably, this has become incorporated into the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as Target 12.3—by 2030, reduce per capita the amount of food waste by half—though there are a number of other important developments that a reduction in avoidable food waste and the valorization of unavoidable food waste can contribute towards. These include (but are not limited to) the increased availability of nutritious food, an increased economic agricultural sector and the production of bio-based fuels, materials and chemicals without competing with arable land. The scope of this Special Issue brings together articles highlighting key sources of food waste and identifying and tackling root causes to help eliminate waste at source and discussing future strategies.