Food Waste Biorefinery

The concept of “Biorefinery” refers conversion of biomass, either whole or part, into useful products through sustainable processes. Food waste composition includes complex organic and inorganic fractions, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, which can be processed into much simpler organic compounds like glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, etc. Biofuels are produced from the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW), comprising leftover kitchen waste. The transformation of any waste material into an energy source involves anaerobic digestion by bacteria that form methane gas due to the breakdown of organic matter. Thus, food waste is transported to facilities for producing energy, which is further utilized as heat or electrical sources. Even, food waste recycling has many advantages such as the production of fertilizers, bio-commodity chemicals, and other types of biofuels that serve as a promising alternative to depleting fossil fuels. Transformation of waste food into sustainable commodity chemicals is a resource recovery method and is a good alternative for fossil-based chemicals to a certain extent. A “green biorefinery” thus represents biomass processing in a sustainable way to produce a variety of commodity chemicals and energy.