Food waste: environmental impact and possible solutions

Abstract

Food waste-induced environmental damage has been a primary concern for environmentalists for decades. Several studies have proven that greenhouse gases emitted by food waste worldwide are causing more damage than coal power plants in some cases. Over the years, many solutions have been proposed, but the problem is yet to be resolved. This mini-review aims to discuss some of the recent solutions proposed by researchers around the world. A discussion about the effective campaigns intended to target specific demographics to encourage sustainable consumer behavior, successful models designed to implement a systemic production process, and sustainable waste management programs is presented. This study emphasizes taking successful small-scale campaigns and models and utilizing them on a larger scale. It will help reduce food waste by consumers and producers in the long term. Biohydrogen and biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic food waste sounds very sustainable and interesting. However, the supply chain optimization, economics involved and land for installing AD, and low-value of the end-products are the challenges that need to be addressed.