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Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability
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Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2023) | Viewed by 8957

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ria Millati

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food and Agricultural Product Technology, Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
Interests: waste biorefinery; bioprocess technology
Prof. Dr. Hossain M. Zabed

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food & Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu Province, China
Interests: waste to energy and bioproducts; biocatalysis; metabolic engineering; protein engineering
Dr. Teguh Ariyanto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
Interests: catalytic process engineering; waste and waste water treatment; gas and energy storages

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid growth of the world's population and advances in food processing technology, the generation of food waste has increased significantly, amounting to 1.3 billion tons from the food supply chain. This vast amount of food waste, if not managed properly, can become an environmental problem, but the management of this waste without proper recycling or valorization causes socio-economic unsustainability. In fact, food waste with excellent organic content has become an attractive feedstock to produce various products, i.e., fuel, chemicals, and materials.

Food-waste-based biorefinery approaches have the potential to promote economic and environmental sustainability by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. In addition, the valorization of food waste can promote the sustainability of the related industry by minimizing the impact of the industry on the environment. Conversion of food waste into value-added products can be carried out by extraction, thermal, chemo-catalytic, and biological methods. Over the past few decades, researchers around the world have devoted significant efforts to developing food waste valorization technologies. The compilation of current research and development of food waste-based biorefinery will provide insight into recent advances, major knowledge gaps, and future research needs to achieve sustainable conversion technologies for this waste stream.

This Special Issue will address a broad aspect of food waste valorization by including conversion methods, techno-social-environmental-economy analysis, and scaling-up strategies. We welcome full-length articles and short or comprehensive review papers. Topics of interest for this issue collection include, but are not limited to:

  • Waste-to-energy (e.g., bioethanol, biogas, biodiesel, and biohydrogen)
  • Waste-to-value-added chemicals (e.g., bulk and fine chemicals and platform chemicals)
  • Waste-to-materials (e.g., biopolymers, bioplastics, and bionanomaterials)
  • Process optimization and technologies used in food wastes valorization (e.g., pyrolysis, gasification, trans-esterification reaction, pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, and down-stream processes)
  • Catalyst development for sustainable food waste conversion (e.g., chemical, enzyme, and microbial catalysts)
  • Techno-social-environmental-economy analysis of food waste-based biorefinery (e.g., TEA, LCA, and supply chain logistics)
  • Scale-up of food waste valorization processes (e.g., pilot-plant, demo-plant, and industrial plant).

Dr. Ria Millati
Prof. Dr. Hossain M. Zabed
Dr. Teguh Ariyanto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food waste valorization
  • value-added products
  • food by-products

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1794 KiB  
Article
Integrated Approach to Spent Coffee Grounds Valorization in Biodiesel Biorefinery
by Valentína Kafková, Róbert Kubinec, Jozef Mikulec, Miroslav Variny, Petra Ondrejíčková, Aleš Ház and Adriana Brisudová
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5612; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075612 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2031
Abstract
With the increasing consumption of coffee beverages, an increased amount of food waste—spent coffee grounds (SCG)—is generated and disposed into landfills or combusted in incinerators. SCG are characterized as a highly polluting substance with partial toxicity due to the presence of caffeine, tannins, [...] Read more.
With the increasing consumption of coffee beverages, an increased amount of food waste—spent coffee grounds (SCG)—is generated and disposed into landfills or combusted in incinerators. SCG are characterized as a highly polluting substance with partial toxicity due to the presence of caffeine, tannins, and polyphenols. It also contains 15% of oil on average, and its potential for biodiesel production is thus considerable. The aim of the presented work is to evaluate the possibility and technical potential of biodiesel production from the SCG oil (SCGO) by esterification and transesterification reaction. According to the characterization of the studied SCGO, this stream must be adjusted and purified to be utilized in the existing biodiesel production plant. Fatty acids (FA) represent 85.85% of the SCGO, with two dominant FAs—linoleic and palmitic acids. The necessity of removal and disposal of unsaponifiable matter, which accounts for 15% of the SCGO content, must be highlighted when producing biodiesel from the SCG. The objective of this research was the comparison of different biodiesel production processes, where a two-step transesterification process has been identified as the most successful method for biodiesel production from the SCGO with the highest ester content of 89.62% and the lowest content of unsaponifiable and unidentified matter in the final product. The novelty of the analyses is a characterization of the d unsaponifiable matter present in the SCGO, and the article highlights the importance of progression to be considered when evaluating the technical potential of the SCG biodiesel production integrated into a biorefinery. Nevertheless, the SCG biodiesel can contribute to fulfilling the mandatory share of advanced biofuel in the fuel energy mix given by national legislation and contribution to the circular economy approach of biorefineries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability)
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26 pages, 2059 KiB  
Article
Estimates of Food Losses and Wastes at Each Node of the Wheat Value Chain in Morocco: Implications on Food and Energy Security, Natural Resources, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by El Houssine Bartali, Mohamed Boutfirass, Yigezu Atnafe Yigezu, Abdoul Aziz Niane, Mohamed Boughlala, Mohammed Belmakki and Habib Halila
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16561; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416561 - 09 Dec 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2061
Abstract
Several research and development efforts have been made to ensure food security in developing countries. Dissemination of improved agricultural technologies was used as the main avenue through which some increases in food supply have been achieved. However, food insecurity remains a major challenge. [...] Read more.
Several research and development efforts have been made to ensure food security in developing countries. Dissemination of improved agricultural technologies was used as the main avenue through which some increases in food supply have been achieved. However, food insecurity remains a major challenge. This paper argues and provides empirical evidence that reducing food loss and waste can be an effective food and energy security, and natural resource, and environmental conservation strategy. Following the life cycle framework, the annual amount of wheat-based food lost or wasted from farm-to-fork in Morocco was estimated at 4 million tons (equivalent to 36% of total supply) valued at US$1.0 billion. Among all nodes, the magnitudes of farm management-related losses, wastage during consumption, and storage losses rank first to third accounting for about 17.4%, 7.92%, and 7.06%, respectively of total wheat supply in the country. Were these losses and wastes entirely prevented, Morocco would have been able to feed 29.3 million more people, or save 1.79 million hectares of land, 2.66 billion m3 of water, and 64.28 million GJ of energy, and prevented the emission from landfills of at least 16.61 million kg of methane annually. Besides the ongoing efforts to disseminate agricultural technologies, the Moroccan government needs to develop short- and medium-term national strategies to reduce food losses and wastage particularly targeting the storage and consumption nodes. Replacing bread subsidy with food vouchers targeting only the needy and creation of public awareness about the magnitudes and consequences of food loss and wastage alone may go long way in reducing them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability)
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15 pages, 2137 KiB  
Article
What to Do with Food Waste? A Holistic Feasibility Framework to Evaluate Different Solutions
by Katri Joensuu, Eric Harrison and Hanna Hartikainen
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013004 - 11 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1521
Abstract
Food waste is generated at several stages of the food chain. According to the European Waste Hierarchy, the creation of food waste should above all be prevented, meaning that waste materials with good microbial and nutritional quality should be directed to food use, [...] Read more.
Food waste is generated at several stages of the food chain. According to the European Waste Hierarchy, the creation of food waste should above all be prevented, meaning that waste materials with good microbial and nutritional quality should be directed to food use, either directly or through light processing. However, to be feasible, food waste utilisation solutions should be economically profitable, environmentally sustainable and scalable to provide a means to utilise a larger share of the raw materials. In this study, we propose a feasibility evaluation approach for food waste utilisation and prevention solutions. We use two case examples: (1) an artisan bar soap product based on carrot peels, and (2) the retail selling of 2nd class carrots. Both cases are evaluated with six feasibility indicators: edible food waste reduction potential, scalability, level at waste hierarchy, climate impact reduction potential, economic impact, and social impact. Case 2 performed better regarding all indicators other than economic impact. Critical aspects that need to be improved included climate reduction potential for both cases and food waste reduction potential for case 1. The results show that this kind of a holistic approach is useful in identifying the most feasible food waste prevention and utilisation measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability)
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17 pages, 1324 KiB  
Article
A Sustainable Approach for the Development of Innovative Products from Fruit and Vegetable By-Products
by Mircea Valentin Muntean, Anca Corina Fărcaş, Mădălina Medeleanu, Liana Claudia Salanţă and Andrei Borşa
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10862; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710862 - 31 Aug 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2617
Abstract
The waste generated by small-scale ultra-fresh juice producers, such as bistros and restaurants, has been little studied so far, mainly because it is unevenly distributed and dissipated in the economic ecosystem and would require high costs associated with transportation and subsequent recovery of [...] Read more.
The waste generated by small-scale ultra-fresh juice producers, such as bistros and restaurants, has been little studied so far, mainly because it is unevenly distributed and dissipated in the economic ecosystem and would require high costs associated with transportation and subsequent recovery of bio composites. The present article seeks to offer solutions by providing sustainable methods to reduce their waste losses to a minimum and transform them into valuable products, with affordable equipment and techniques. The study focuses on the preliminary phase of quantitative analysis of fruit and vegetable by-products generated on a small scale, the results showing a mean 55% productivity in fresh juices. Due to the high amount of remnant water content in waste, a new process of mechanically pressing the resulting squeezed pulp was introduced, generating an additional yield in juice, ranging from 3.98 to 51.4%. Due to the rising trend in healthier lifestyle, the by-products were frozen or airdried for conservation in each of the processing stages, and the total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were analyzed in order to assess the traceability of these bioactive compounds to help maximize their transfer into future final products. The polyphenols transferred into by-products varied between 7 and 23% in pulps and between 6 and 20% in flours. The highest DPPH potential was found in flours, up to three-fold in comparison with the raw material, but the high dry substance content must be accounted for. The results highlight the potential of reusing the processing waste as a reliable source of bioactive compounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste Valorization as a Way towards Sustainability)
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