Perspectives on “Game Changer” Global Challenges for Sustainable 21st Century: Plant-Based Diet, Unavoidable Food Waste Biorefining, and Circular Economy

Abstract

Planet Earth is under severe stress from several inter-linked factors mainly associated with rising global population, linear resource consumption, security of resources, unsurmountable waste generation, and social inequality, which unabated will lead to an unsustainable 21st Century. The traditional way products are designed promotes a linear economy that discards recoverable resources and creates negative environmental and social impacts. Here, we suggest multi-disciplinary approaches encompassing chemistry, process engineering and sustainability science, and sustainable solutions in “game changer” challenges in three intersecting arenas of food: Sustainable diet, valorisation of unavoidable food supply chain wastes, and circularity of food value chain systems aligning with the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In the arena of sustainable diet, comprehensive life cycle assessment using the global life cycle inventory datasets and recommended daily servings is conducted to rank food choices, covering all food groups from fresh fruits/vegetables, lentils/pulses and grains to livestock, with regard to health and the environment, to emphasise the essence of plant-based diet, especially plant-based sources of protein, for holistic systemic sustainability and stability of the earth system. In the arena of unavoidable food supply chain wastes, economically feasible and synergistically (energy and material) integrated innovative biorefinery systems are suggested to transform unavoidable food waste into functional and platform chemical productions alongside energy vectors: Fuel or combined heat and power generation. In the arena of circularity of food value chain systems, novel materials and methods for plant-based protein functionalisation for food/nutraceutical applications are investigated using regenerative bio-surfactants from unavoidable food waste. This circular economy or industrial symbiosis example thus combines the other two arenas, i.e., plant-based protein sourcing and unavoidable food waste valorisation. The multi-disciplinary analysis here will eventually impact on policies for dietary change, but also contribute knowledge needed by industry and policy makers and raise awareness amongst the population at large for making a better approach to the circular economy of food.

The Effect of Various Hydroxide and Salt Additives on the Reduction of Fluoride Ion Mobility in Industrial Waste

“…(2) It was found that, in the case of Al(OH) 3 or Ca(OH) 2 additives, a significant reduction (~2 times) of the fluorine ions in the silica gel waste can be achieved only by applying the treatment with a high quantity of liquid medium (w/s = 100). Meanwhile, by the use of NaOH or NH 4 OH solutions (w/s = 20), the concentration of fluorine ions in the silica gel waste can be reduced by 1.6 and 2.2 times, respectively.…”

“…Waste management and the reduction of pollution are the priority areas of environmental protection in the World [1][2][3][4]. According to the data of Eurostat [5], the European Union generates approximately 180 million tons of manufacturing waste every year.…”

Measuring Circularity in Food Supply Chain Using Life Cycle Assessment; Refining Oil from Olive Kernel

“…However, in recent years, LCA has been applied to measure circularity in various sectors, such as bio-based materials [ 20 , 21 ], tourism [ 5 ], and concrete production [ 22 ]. There are also some published documents addressing the connection between LCA and the circular economy concept in the food supply chain [ 16 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Environmental Assessment of Upgrading Horticultural Side Streams—The Case of Unharvested Broccoli Leaves

“…One of the main challenges related to environmental impact and food security include human diet and food waste management [4][5][6]. As suggested by [7], multidisciplinary solutions for food waste valorisation, increased circularity in the currently linear food supply system and a transition towards a more plant-based diet is necessary to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Waste reduction and food waste valorisation is unique in this context, since it focuses on food that is already produced, but not consumed for various reasons.…”