State Policy in the Field of Treatment and Utilization of Food Waste in Russia

Globally, approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or discarded, comprising 1. 3 billion tons annually. Factors contributing to food waste from the food manufacturer to the consumer level are numerous. Events that may result in food waste include, but are not limited to, manufacturing food by-products, improper handling within the supply chain (e.g., cold chain deviations), misunderstood food date labels, over-purchasing, and consumer-level temperature abuse. From the manufacturer to consumer, each node in the food supply requires concerted efforts to divert food waste from entering municipal landfills. Depending on the state of the food waste, it is diverted to various outlets, from food donation for consumption to composting for soil amendment. To better understand the opportunities in the United States to divert food waste from landfills, current and emerging federal policies as well as the causes of food waste generation must be understood. Unfortunately, information on both the composition of food waste in the U.S. and how it impacts critical factors in food waste treatment, especially in food waste composting, is limited. Specifically, this review aims to: (1) discuss and compare critical factors that impact the fate of food waste and (2) examine emerging opportunities to advance the processing and products of food waste.

The amount of food waste is increasing with the development of society and the increase in population; the rough treatment of food waste could result in a serious environmental crisis and waste of resources. Hydrothermal treatment is a promising scheme to achieve the harmless treatment and utilization of food waste. Although there are many studies on the hydrothermal treatment of food waste, there is still a lack of systematic summary and comprehensive analysis of the relevant literature. In this review, we provide an in-depth analysis of the specific impact mechanisms of hydrothermal conditions on the gaseous, solid, and liquid products. Meanwhile, the hydrothermal conversion mechanisms of food waste components are systematically sorted out. The review also discusses the potential application areas for the derived products from the hydrothermal treatment of food waste. Finally, the main challenges and future research directions are proposed to improve the development of the hydrothermal treatment of food waste.

The disposal of food waste has attracted worldwide attention. Each year, the amount of wasted food accounts for an estimated one third of annual food production globally. This large amount of food waste has caused serious land, water, and air pollution. In the past, most research on food waste was focused solely on food waste disposal processing. Only a few studies analysed the flow of materials in food waste treatment processes. Therefore, this paper focused on the process of food waste anaerobic treatment in Beijing and investigated the treatment. According to a life cycle theory, the food waste treatment process is divided into three processes: "collection and transportation, disposal, and resource utilization." This paper analysed the input and output of food waste treatment in different processes and evaluated the economic and environmental costs and benefits of food waste treatment. The study found that 200t of food waste anaerobic treatment can obtain benefits 66,888 Chinese yuan, generate electricity energy 43,350kW⋅h, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions 16,087kg. Generally, the economic and environmental benefits of the food waste anaerobic treatment project are considerable. However, the economic benefits are mainly from government subsidies. There are many impurities in food waste, which indicates some problems in food waste treatment. Thus, the proposals to strengthen waste classification, optimize the layout of garbage collection and transportation, and accelerate the development of waste treatment plants have been put forward.

Objectives : Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are organisms that effectively decompose various types of organic waste including food waste, and food waste treatment using BSFL is attracting attention as a sustainable waste treatment method. However, food waste discharged from Korea has a wide variety of properties, and its high salt concentration limits its treatment by BSFL. Therefore, to increase the efficiency of food waste treatment using BSFL, it is necessary to increase the quality of food waste as a production medium for BSFL. In this study, the ratio of protein and fat was adjusted by adding bean sprouts and wheat brans to food wastes treated at high temperature under vacuum, and whether such medium is suitable for rearing BSFL was investigated.Methods : To improve the medium, the ratio of protein and fat was adjusted to approximately 2:1 by adding bean sprouts and bran residue to food waste. Subsequently, the growth and development rate of BSFL reared on chicken feed, food waste, food waste + bean sprouts, food waste + wheat bran were measured. Also, the decomposition rate of each medium was analyzed.Results and Discussion : The growth rate of BSFL grown on food waste + wheat bran medium was similar to that of BSFL reared on chicken feed. The speed of development at day 7 was also the fastest for BSFL reared with food waste + wheat bran medium and chicken feed. These results suggest that the mixed medium to which wheat bran has been added to food waste has the potential to be used as a commercial medium for BSFL production. The survival rate of BSFL was 89% or higher in all media.Conclusions : When food waste was used alone, BSFL development was poor compared to that in media combined with agricultural by-products such as bean sprouts and wheat bran. Therefore, to use food waste as a rearing medium of BSFL, it is necessary to adjust the ratio of protein and fat by adding various agricultural by-products and reduce salinity. For the improvement of food waste treatment technology using BSFL, mass rearing of useful insects such as BSFL, and promotion of the use of agricultural by-products, additional research is needed to optimize the composition of rearing medium based on food waste.

Effect of biochar on reactor performance and methane generation during the anaerobic digestion of food waste treatment at long-run operations

Food waste has been identified as one of the major factors that constitute numerous anthropogenic activities, especially in developing countries. There is a growing problem with food waste that affects every part of the waste management system, from collection to disposal; finding long-term solutions necessitates involving all participants in the food supply chain, from farmers and manufacturers to distributors and consumers. In addition to food waste management, maintaining food sustainability and security globally is crucial so that every individual, household, and nation can always get food. “End hunger, achieve food security and enhanced nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” are among the main challenges of global sustainable development (SDG) goal 2. Therefore, sustainable food waste management technology is needed. Recent attention has been focused on global food loss and waste. One-third of food produced for human use is wasted every year. Source reduction (i.e., limiting food losses and waste) and contemporary treatment technologies appear to be the most promising strategy for converting food waste into safe, nutritious, value-added feed products and achieving sustainability. Food waste is also employed in industrial processes for the production of biofuels or biopolymers. Biofuels mitigate the detrimental effects of fossil fuels. Identifying crop-producing zones, bioenergy cultivars, and management practices will enhance the natural environment and sustainable biochemical process. Traditional food waste reduction strategies are ineffective in lowering GHG emissions and food waste treatment. The main contribution of this study is an inventory of the theoretical and practical methods of prevention and minimization of food waste and losses. It identifies the trade-offs for food safety, sustainability, and security. Moreover, it investigates the impact of COVID-19 on food waste behavior.

Environmental impacts and optimization simulation of aerobic anaerobic combination treatment technology for food waste with life cycle assessment

Advanced treatment and valorization of food waste through staged fermentation and chain elongation

Non-negligible health risks caused by inhalation exposure to aldehydes and ketones during food waste treatments in megacity Shanghai

Simple SummaryBlack soldier fly larvae (BSFL) have received global research interest and industrial application due to their high performance on the organic waste treatment. However, the substrate C/N property, which may affect larvae development and the waste bioconversion process greatly, is significantly less studied. The current study focused on the food waste treatment by BSFL, compared the nitrogen supplying effects of 9 nitrogen species (i.e., NH4Cl, NaNO3, urea, uric acid, Gly, L-Glu, L-Glu:L-Asp (1:1, w/w), soybean flour, and fish meal), and further examined the C/N effects on the larval development and bioconversion process. We found that NH4Cl and NaNO3 led to poor larval growth and survival, while 7 organic nitrogen species exerted no harm to the larvae. Urea was further chosen to adjust the C/Ns. Results showed that lowering the C/N from the initial 21:1 to 18:1–14:1 improved the waste reduction and larvae production performance, and C/N of 18:1–16:1 was further beneficial for the larval protein and lipid bioconversion, whereas C/N of 12:1–10:1 resulted in a significant performance decline. Therefore, the C/N range of 18:1–16:1 is likely the optimal condition for food waste treatment by BSFL and adjusting food waste C/N with urea could be a practical method for the performance improvement.Biowaste treatment by black soldier fly larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens) has received global research interest and growing industrial application. Larvae farming conditions, such as temperature, pH, and moisture, have been critically examined. However, the substrate carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), one of the key parameters that may affect larval survival and bioconversion efficiency, is significantly less studied. The current study aimed to compare the nitrogen supplying effects of 9 nitrogen species (i.e., NH4Cl, NaNO3, urea, uric acid, Gly, L-Glu, L-Glu:L-Asp (1:1, w/w), soybean flour, and fish meal) during food waste larval treatment, and further examine the C/N effects on the larval development and bioconversion process, using the C/N adjustment with urea from the initial 21:1 to 18:1, 16:1, 14:1, 12:1, and 10:1, respectively. The food wastes were supplied with the same amount of nitrogen element (1 g N/100 g dry wt) in the nitrogen source trial and different amount of urea in the C/N adjustment trial following larvae treatment. The results showed that NH4Cl and NaNO3 caused significant harmful impacts on the larval survival and bioconversion process, while the 7 organic nitrogen species resulted in no significant negative effect. Further adjustment of C/N with urea showed that the C/N range between 18:1 and 14:1 was optimal for a high waste reduction performance (73.5–84.8%, p < 0.001) and a high larvae yield (25.3–26.6%, p = 0.015), while the C/N range of 18:1 to 16:1 was further optimal for an efficient larval protein yield (10.1–11.1%, p = 0.003) and lipid yield (7.6–8.1%, p = 0.002). The adjustment of C/N influenced the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD, p = 0.015), whereas exerted no obvious impact on the larval amino acid composition. Altogether, organic nitrogen is more suitable than NH4Cl and NaNO3 as the nitrogen amendment during larval food waste treatment, addition of small amounts of urea, targeting C/N of 18:1–14:1, would improve the waste reduction performance, and application of C/N at 18:1–16:1 would facilitate the larval protein and lipid bioconversion process.

Effect of carbon dioxide on thermal treatment of food waste as a sustainable disposal method

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of food waste treatment in Hong Kong: On-site fermentation methodology

Valorization of food waste and economical treatment: Effect of inoculation methods

A bi-level multi-objective optimization approach for carbon policy formulation towards food waste resource treatment from environmental, energy and economic perspectives

Food waste co-digestion in Germany and the United States: From lab to full-scale systems