One billion tonnes of food wasted is generated around the world every year. This book seeks to address and mitigate this urgent problem by focusing on food valorisation through conversion to various value-added products. Contributions from a wide range of international experts draw attention to valuable, realistic, and exciting opportunities for science, business, and society to provide essential and substantial environmental benefits. This timely volume comprises 18 chapters dealing with different aspects of food waste treatment and management in different parts of the world. These chapters explore the fundamentals, trends, and future opportunities for food waste composting and anaerobic digestion, as well as how food waste can be converted to single-cell protein, animal feeds, and fertiliser. This book also addresses various value-added products that can be generated. These include products such as chemicals, synthetic alternatives, nanocellulose, construction materials, and biodegradable fibres.

"Food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition affect all counties worldwide; one in nine people suffers from starvation and malnourishment. At the same time, one billion tonnes of food (17%) is wasted yearly, and associated environmental problems have become emerging global issues. There is an urgency to treat food waste as a resource. This timely volume comprises eighteen chapters dealing with different aspects of food waste treatment and management in different parts of the world (1). Food waste should be used for urban agriculture and landscaping (2). It is feasible to employ biochemical and thermochemical processes in treating and recovering food waste (3). A case study demonstrated such feasibility in Shenzhen, China's most developed city (4). The fundamentals, trends, and future opportunities for food waste composting and anaerobic digestion are explored (5, 6, 7). Food waste can be converted to single-cell protein (8), animal feeds (9), and fertilizer (via vermicomposting and anaerobic digestion) (10, 11). Various value-added products can be generated: chemicals, synthetic alternatives, nanocellulose, construction materials, and biodegradable fibres (12-16). Chinese herbal residues and brewery waste are examples of very specific wastes that could be valorised into value-added products (17, 18). Fundamental and wide-ranging attention is required towards sustainable food production and consumption through the entire global food supply chain. In the best-case scenario for changed management and behaviours, substantial amounts of surplus food and food waste will remain inevitable. This provides ample justification for this book on food valorisation through conversion to various value-added products. Contributions from a wide range of international experts draw attention to valuable, realistic, and exciting opportunities for science, business, and society that will also provide essential and substantial environmental benefits"--

This book analyses the complexities of the rhizosphere ecosystem and discusses the role of insect pheromones in shaping soil health and vermicompost production. It details the mechanisms of insect pheromone communication, their impact on soil microbial communities, and their potential applications in sustainable agriculture and vermicompost production. The subject matter in this book also discusses: The Underground Symphony Pheromones in Pest Control The Sentient Soil Hypothesis Bio-Engineered Insect Allies The Global Impact of Rhizosphere Revolution Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan)

Drying and Valorisation of Food Processing Waste is a comprehensive guide that delves into the crucial role of advanced drying technologies in mitigating the issue of food waste. This book evaluates the current research, technologies, and methodologies in food waste processing and valorisation, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that exist in this field. This book provides a systematic classification of various types of food waste and how to choose the most appropriate drying technology based on waste characteristics. It also covers the effects of drying technologies on physical and chemical properties, as well as valuable compounds. In addition, it evaluates the impact of drying on different valorisation routes and provides real-life industrial case studies to illustrate the practical applications of the concepts discussed. It is an invaluable resource for professionals, researchers, and academics who are looking to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of drying on food waste reduction and valorisation. This book is aimed at chemical, food, and environmental engineers as well as researchers and academics in these fields. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in food waste processing and valorisation and is an essential reference for professionals seeking to advance their knowledge in this field. Additionally, this book's practical approach and case studies make it an ideal resource for students and researchers who are looking to gain hands-on experience in food waste reduction and valorisation.

This book addresses the potential of the transformation of biomass into a wide range of marketable products, and examines the biological, biochemical, physical and thermal processing of biomass into products such as fuels, power, heat, feeds, chemicals and materials. Respective chapters explore various topics including biomass characterization, biomass pre-conditioning and sustainability analysis, aspects that are supplemented by a global overview of their implementation in current pilot bio-refineries. Providing a valuable resource to energy engineers, chemical engineers, biotechnologists and economists, this book will also be of great interest to students and policymakers.

Realizing the finite nature of natural resources such as fossil fuels, the emphasis is now shifting to alternative raw materials with the potential to mitigate the environmental, economic, and social stresses of today’s world. Under this horizon, in this book, we explore the use of biomass and key issues, including technological nodes and disruptive technologies capable of unlocking the black box of biomass-based technology. This book provides an overview for those attentive to the promises of biomass as a source of a myriad of specialty products.

This book adds a new dimension to the sustainability assessment of food waste reduction and valorisation: policy analysis. Featuring a transdisciplinary analysis by key experts in the field, it identifies the drivers of change in food-waste reduction and valorisation technologies by looking, for example, at the regulatory framework and at policy actions undertaken by local and global actors. The book explores the development of regulations and policies for food-waste prevention, management, and valorisation at a global as well as European Union level. It also discusses the notion of food waste in legal terms and investigates the effects of the lack of a standard, universal definition of food waste on the efficient use of by-products, promising processes and products for technological and commercial exploitation. Utilising mathematical mapping methods to assess food consumption impacts and providing supply chain models that allow the testing of consumption scenarios, the book goes on to discuss a series of emerging technologies (tested at lab scale and/ or pilot scale) and opportunities for the valorisation of food waste.

From Waste to Value investigates how streams of organic waste and residues can be transformed into valuable products, to foster a transition towards a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. The studies are carried out within a cross-disciplinary framework, drawing on a diverse set of theoretical approaches and defining different valorisation pathways. Organic waste streams from households and industry are becoming a valuable resource in today’s economies. Substances that have long represented a cost to companies and a burden for society are now becoming an asset. Waste products, such as leftover food, forest residues and animal carcasses, can be turned into valuable products such as biomaterials, biochemicals and biopharmaceuticals. Exploiting these waste resources is challenging, however. It requires that companies develop new technologies and that public authorities introduce new regulation and governance models. This book helps policy-makers govern and regulate bio-based industries, and helps industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the circular bioeconomy. Moreover, it provides important insights for all students and scholars concerned with renewable energy, sustainable development and climate change.

AGRO-WASTE DERIVED BIOPOLYMERS AND BIOCOMPOSITES This comprehensive book describes the fundamental principles and major advancements in the utilization of agro-waste for deriving biopolymers, and their applications to fabricate composite, nanocomposite, and hybrid food packaging films and coatings. The book serves as a complete, systematic, comprehensive account of the contemporary developments in the area of novel and environment-friendly valorization of agro- and food wastes into value-added products like biodegradable polymer and active functional agents for food packaging applications. It also describes the hurdles and challenges in the commercialization of these novel biopolymer-based materials, including their composites, their applications, safety, and legal ramifications. This book consists of fifteen chapters covering different aspects of agro- and food waste utilization, the development of biodegradable polymers, and their composites for sustainable food packaging applications. The first thirteen chapters detail the processing of various agro- and food wastes of plant and animal origin to synthesize different biopolymers, such as starch, cellulose, chitosan, silk proteins, pectin, etc., and their applications for the fabrication of sustainable food packaging materials and composites that are attractive alternatives to synthetic plastic packaging. These chapters also summarize the effectiveness of these biopolymers and their composites in developing active films and edible coatings for shelf-life extension and preservation of perishable foods. A chapter is devoted to issues of biodegradability, including analyses of various biodegradation reactions, such as depolymerization, mineralization, biochemical, and abiotic degradation both in soil and aquatic environments. The book concludes with a chapter addressing the concerns associated with the possible migration of components or additives from these biodegradable packaging into packaged food items. Audience The primary audience for this book is researchers, scientists, and engineers working in food science and technology, food engineering and technology, food biotechnology, sustainable food packaging, etc. Additionally, food entrepreneurs and associated businesses, such as the packaging and coatings industries, will also have a keen interest in the book.

This book presents the most up-to-date technologies for the transformation of biomass into valuable fuels, chemicals, materials, and products. It provides comprehensive coverage of the characterization and fractionation of various types of biomass and details the many challenges that are currently encountered during this process. Divided into two sections, this book discusses timely topics such as the characterization of biomass feedstock, pretreatment and fractionation of biomass, and describes the process for conversion of biomass to value-added commodities. The authors bring biomass transformational strategies that are yet to be explored to the forefront, making this innovative book useful for graduate students and researchers in academia, government, and industry.