Sustainable Food Waste Management: An Introduction

Abstract Globally, increasing volumes of food waste along with the recent Sustainable Development Goals of food security, environmental protection, and material and energy efficiency are the key drivers for efficient food waste management. Food waste is a resource as it generates enormous energy, chemical, and material potential due to the functionalized molecules stored in it. However, it is currently underutilized worldwide. The possibility of its treatment and recycling into value-added products depends on its availability, collection, chemical complexity, and amenability to different treatment technologies. The conventional food waste management practices include anaerobic digestion, composting, and animal feed. In addition to these and products thereof, many innovative high-value products such as platform chemicals, biomaterials, biofuels, biochar, and biooil can be obtained from food waste via various biological, thermal, and chemical transformations. This chapter discusses these aspects of sustainable food waste management and recovery and provides an account of the recent development and challenges of these treatment technologies.