Circular Economy in the Food Chain: Production, Processing and Waste Management

Abstract

Food processing, from agricultural production to domestic consumption, is responsible for generating great amounts of waste per year, resulting in soil, water, and air pollution. These pollutants, together with the uses of petrochemical process inputs such as solvents, additives, or fuels, increase the food chain’s environment impacts resulting in wasted resources. In response to this scenario, the circular economy (CE) theory is presented in literature as a liable alternative for the design of more sustainable production chains. In this context, this work was aimed at evaluating the literature’s approach on the CE concept within the food processing and food waste management. The works show the centrality of “food waste” as a focus for the application of the CE. However, despite the relevance of management, reuse, or valuation of food waste, particularly due to its contribution to carbon footprint and decrease of food safety, studies have found other strategies for improvement of CE in the food chain. In this case, works in literature were allocated within the framework presented by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation called ReSOLVE, with proposals for modification of production chain to promote the CE. Among the proposals, one should highlight: modification of productive systems for mitigation of environmental impacts and greenhouse emissions, processes optimization for decreasing the use of natural resources and wastes, use of 4.0 Industry such as IoT, big data, or machine learning techniques for improvement of the whole supply chain, development of collaborative platforms for production and market, use of residues or co-products by design of intra- or inter-chain loops, and exchange of process or inputs with high environmental impacts for greener ones.

“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)

“…In 1862, Simmonds introduced the concept of flow substitution and emphasized the principles of reuse, recycling, and innovation to generate revenue from waste (Prendeville et al., 2018). His perspective on utilizing food by‐products from large cities as valuable resources remains relevant today, especially in studies focusing on the application of the CE to food processing and waste management (Gonçalves & Maximo, 2022). Flow substitution has emerged as a key concept in the CE framework (Haupt & Hellweg, 2019; Korhonen et al., 2018).…”

“…Vitruvio (1521) introduced the idea of resource reuse in construction for economic gain, echoed in contemporary SBMs (Dokter et al., 2021; Zanotto, 2022). Simmonds (1862) further amplified the principle of waste as a potential profit source, a concept resonating with modern waste management strategies in the food industry (Gonçalves & Maximo, 2022). The scientific underpinning of CE emerged through Kjeldahl (1883) and Lagergen's (1898) exploration of material properties, paving the way for waste reintegration into production systems (Morosanu et al., 2019; Pap et al., 2021; Pessoa et al., 2019).…”

A bibliometric analysis of trends in the relationship between innovation and food

“…In the Household Consumption stage, 11 keywords were placed. Waste management must be considered in relation to all agri-food value chain stages (Gonçalves and Maximo, 2022). Innovationfood trends: bibliometric analysis 3.3.1 Three pillars of innovation.…”

Valorization of Food Waste as Animal Feed: A Step towards Sustainable Food Waste Management and Circular Bioeconomy

“…As a consequence of this, the quality of animal feed that is manufactured from FW suffers during the processes of garbage collection, transportation, and storage [ 31 ]. In addition, commercial FW (namely waste from the food service and retail sectors) varies in both quantity and homogeneity and its nutritional make-up is inconsistent [ 32 ]. Manufacturers of recycled animal feed have addressed these challenges with innovative thinking and now successfully recycle FW into animal feed at a relatively low cost [ 33 ].…”