Sustainable Technologies for Food Waste Management

This book comprehensively explores various aspects of food waste management, ranging from understanding the issue to innovative solutions that convert waste into valuable resources. The initial chapters provide an in-depth analysis of advanced methods for characterizing food waste. The book examines cutting-edge methodologies, including physico-chemical, thermal, and biological approaches, for converting food waste into valuable resources such as biohydrogen, biopolymers, biogas, organic acids, bioactive compounds, biochar, compost, and vermicompost. Additionally, it delves into the utilization of advanced technologies like machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, and robotics for food waste treatment and management, thus contributing to a sustainable future. It underscores the conversion of food waste into renewable energy sources, sustainable materials, and valuable compounds. This book will be useful for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking sustainable approaches to tackle the global challenge of food waste.

• Offers in-depth insights into advanced methods for characterizing food waste, enabling precise and targeted waste reduction strategies
• Examines physico-chemical, thermal, and biological approaches for converting food waste into valuable resources
• Presents machine learning, IoT, sensors, and robotics for sustainable food waste management and treatment
• Highlights the conversion of food waste into valuable resources, including biohydrogen, biopolymers, bioactive compounds, compost, and vermicompost
• Provides specific details about the food waste supply chain and associated policies

Dr. Ranjna Sirohi is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the SKN Agricultural University (SKNAU), Jaipur, India. She obtained PhD degree in Process and Food Engineering from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. She worked as a Research Professor at Korea University in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and as Assistant Professor in the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun before joining the SKNAU. She has also worked as a researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Her major research interests are in Bioprocess technology, food and food waste valuation, waste to wealth, and Biofuels. She has more than 150 publications, including seven books, 21 book chapters and popular articles and two patents.

Dr. Ayon Tarafdar is currently working as an ARS Scientist at the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, India. He obtained his PhD degree from NIFTEM (Kundli, India) in Food Engineering. He has worked at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. His main research focus has been on non-thermal food processing operations, bioprocess modeling and optimization, machine learning, food waste valorization, etc. He has published 93 scientific papers and reviews in addition to thirteen book chapters, two four books, and one filed patent. Dr. Tarafdar has been awarded several fellowships, including the TEQIP-II fellowship, the NIFTEM research fellowship, UGC-JRF fellowship, CSIR SRF, and the DST-SERB-DST international travel grant.

Dr. Luciana Porto de Souza Vandenberghe is a Professor at the Department of Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Dr. Vandenberghe obtained her PhD degree in Génie de Procédés Industriels—Biotechnologie from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (2000), France. Her areas of interest include Bioprocess engineering and biotechnology and industrial microbiology, with a focus on the valorization of solid and liquid agro-industrial products through submerged and solid-state fermentation for biomolecule production, including biofuels, industrial enzymes, organic acids, bioplastics, and plant growth hormones. She has published 160 papers, five books, 69book chapters, and 28 patents. She is an editor and an editorial board member of various journals.

Professor Mohammad J. Taherzadeh has been a Professor of Bioprocess technology since 2004 at the University of Borås in Sweden and Chairman of the Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery. Prof. Taherzadeh has a PhD in Bioscience from Sweden (1999). His research interests are on developing processes to convert wastes and residuals to value-added products, with a focus on pretreatment and fermentation using filamentous fungi and anaerobic bacteria. He has eight patents, more than 500 publications, and eight books.

Professor Ashok Pandey is currently Distinguished Scientist at the Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India. His major research and technological development interests are industrial and environmental biotechnology and energy biosciences, focusing on biomass to biofuels and chemicals, waste to wealth and energy, etc. He has 16 patents, 125 books, and more than 1000 papers and book chapters. Professor Pandey is the recipient of many national and international awards and honours, which include Distinguished Fellow, the Biotech Research Society, India; Fellow of five international and four Indian academies, including The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), World Society for Sustainable Energy Technologies, National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian National Science Academy; Academician of European Academy of Sciences and Arts, etc.