Cited by 123Food Waste Reduction and SustainabilityAnaerobic Digestion and Biogas ProductionBiofuel production and bioconversion

Comparing End-Use Potential for Industrial Food-Waste Sources

Open access
RedCorn, Raymond, Fatemi, Samira, Engelberth, Abigail S.·2018·Engineering

Abstract

Approximately one quarter of the global edible food supply is wasted. The drivers of food waste can occur at any level between production, harvest, distribution, processing, and the consumer. While the drivers vary globally, the industrialized regions of North America, Europe, and Asia share similar situations; in each of these regions the largest loss of food waste occurs with the consumer, at approximately 51% of total waste generated. As a consequence, handling waste falls on municipal solid waste operations. In the United States, food waste constitutes 15% of the solid waste stream by weight, contributes 3.4 × 10 7 t of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) equivalent emissions, and costs 1.9 billion USD in disposal fees. The levels of carbon, nutrients, and moisture in food waste make bioprocessing into higher value products an attractive method for mitigation. Opportunities include extraction of nutraceuticals and bioactive compounds, or conversion to a variety of volatile acids—including lactic, acetic, and propionic acids—that can be recovered and sold at a profit. The conversion of waste into volatile acids can be paired with bioenergy production, including hydrogen or biogas. This present review compares the potential for upgrading industrial food waste to either specialty products or methane. Higher value uses of industrial food waste could alleviate approximately 1.9 × 10 8 t of CO 2 equivalent emissions. As an example, potato peel could be upgraded to lactic acid via fermentation to recover 5600 million USD per year, or could be converted to methane via anaerobic digestion, resulting in a revenue of 900 million USD per year. The potential value to be recovered is significant, and food-waste valorization will help to close the loop for various food industries.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.eng.2018.05.010

Cites

78 of 78 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Whey is the main by-product obtained during cheese production from all types of milk, including goat, sheep, camel, buffalo, and cow.

    “Whey is the main by-product obtained during cheese production from all types of milk, namely goat, sheep, camel, buffalo, and, most commonly, cow milk [138].”

    From Use of Waste from the Food Industry and Applications of the Fermentation Process to Create Sustainable Cosmetic Products: A Review (2024) · cites this paper as [138]

    Section 3.2.2 (Biofuels; page unavailable) identifies whey as waste from cheese-making, and the table in section 4 lists whey under cheese processing. The copy does not establish that whey is the main by-product, that it comes from every listed type of milk, or that cow milk is most common. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Protein-rich fractions from whey are reused as cosmetic raw materials and can counteract skin damage, preserve skin integrity, and reduce dermal dryness.

    “Moreover, protein-rich fractions are reused and applied as cosmetic raw materials with ability to counteract skin damage, preserve skin integrity, and reduce drawbacks related to the dermal dryness [138].”

    From Use of Waste from the Food Industry and Applications of the Fermentation Process to Create Sustainable Cosmetic Products: A Review (2024) · cites this paper as [138]

    Section 3.2.2 discusses cheese whey as a source for butanol, while section 3.2.3 mentions cosmetic use only for powder made from olive-mill waste. Searches for whey protein cosmetics, skin damage, skin integrity, and dermal dryness found no passage addressing the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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1 of the 79 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Kaufmann AJ. Remediation of spent pickle brine using crossflow filtration and activated carbon batch testing [dissertation]. Raleigh: North Carolina State University; 2015.
  2. Baker J. Bioplastics set for growth phase. ICIS Chem Bus 2013;284:2.
  3. Guzman DD. PHA ready for takeoff. ICIS Chem Bus 2011;279:30.
  4. Palagacheva Y. Butanols. ICIS Chem Bus 2017;291:23.
  5. Miner L. Acetone still tight. ICIS Chem Bus 2017;291:10-1.
  6. Mirasol F. Nutraceuticals in the hot zone. ICIS Chem Bus 2009;276:18.

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Authors
RedCorn, R., Fatemi, S., & Engelberth, A. S.
Affiliations
Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
Corresponding author
Engelberth, Abigail S.
Venue
Engineering
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-06
Volume
4
Issue
3
Pages
371-380
ISSN
2095-8099 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2805021024
Cited by
123
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
12.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Engineering (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Purdue e-Pubs (Purdue University System) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Hatch Fund (IND010677)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
Keywords
food waste, food waste valorization, lactic acid recovery, volatile fatty acids, anaerobic digestion, methane production, bioenergy, hydrogen production, potato peel, nutraceuticals, bioactive compounds, CO2 emissions, waste-to-value, circular economy

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