Reduction of Food Waste Through Biorefineries: A Sustainable Approach

Food waste is a critical global challenge, with significant environmental, economic, and social implications. Traditional waste management practices—such as landfilling and incineration—contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and resource loss. In response, biorefineries have emerged as a sustainable solution, enabling the transformation of food waste into a spectrum of value-added products. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of biorefineries in food waste reduction within the framework of a circular economy. It discusses the chemical composition and variability of food waste as a feedstock, and explores thermochemical, biochemical, and hybrid conversion pathways. The review categorizes the resulting products—such as biofuels, bioplastics, platform chemicals, fertilizers, and animal feed—and evaluates their environmental and economic impacts through life cycle assessments and techno-economic analyses. Real-world case studies, process innovations, and circularity metrics are examined to highlight current progress and limitations. Finally, the article outlines future directions in process integration, policy support, modular technologies, and digital monitoring systems. The findings underscore that food waste valorization through biorefineries is a scalable, environmentally beneficial, and economically viable strategy to achieve sustainable waste management and resource recovery.

کلیدواژه ها:

Food waste valorization ، Biorefinery ، Circular economy ، Thermochemical conversion ، Anaerobic digestion ، Biofuels