Food Industry Waste: A Panacea or Pollution Hazard?

Abstract

The food-processing industry produces large volumes of wastes, both solids and liquids, generated from the production, preparation, and consumption of food. These wastes pose increasing disposal and potentially severe pollution problems and represent a loss of valuable biomass and nutrients. Due consideration to proper utilization and disposal of solid waste is the need of the hour for sustainable industrial development. Industrial waste management techniques can be classified into three options: source reduction by processing plant modification, waste recovery, recycle or waste treatment for value-added products and eco-friendly detoxification or neutralization of the undesirable components. Efficient management of waste can bring down the cost of production of processed foods and minimize the pollution hazard.

Concept of 4-R, comprising Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover, is the ultimate goal to optimize utilization of solid waste while minimizing environmental problems. Extraction of pectin, essential oils from the citrus peels, and whey protein concentrate from whey are some of the examples of by-product utilization from food-processing industry. The by-products of fruits and vegetables are also found to be good sources of antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds. Microbial synthesis of single cell protein, amino acids, and vitamins is also possible by the use of whey, molasses, etc. The ultimate goal of green productivity could be achieved through zero discharge, zero emission, zero pollution, cost-effective processing, and application of clean production technology.

The waste from food-processing industry is not a waste in a real sense but can be converted and utilized as food, feed, and fodder. The regulatory agencies and the food-processing industries can work hand in hand to develop new processes for waste management and utilization which are commercially viable.