Reutilisation of food wastes for generating fuels and value added products: A global review

Reutilisation of food wastes for the production of fuels and value added products is a hot research topic. In this study, an up to date global review about food waste reutilisation techniques: (i) composting, (ii) anaerobic digestion, (iii) fermentation or bioprocessing, and (iv) thermochemical conversion technologies (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonisation) is given. Detailed analysis of the literature clearly showed that the main motivation behind food waste reutilisation is reduction of environmental impacts and generating an economic return. However, the analysis given in this study showed that some of these reutilisation technologies can bring more damage to the environment than benefit, and auxiliary costs can exceed the economic benefits. As a result, it is suggested that full life cycle assessments coupled with carbon, land and water footprint analyses should be made for any potential food waste reutilisation option before realising any large-scale investments. Conclusively, it is believed that this review could provide some assistance to policy planners and researchers about the current and future aspects of food waste reutilisation technologies.