Author : Chenyu Du a,**, Jwan J. Abdullah b, Darren Greetham a, Danni Fu c, Mengyuan Yu c,Liwei Ren c, Shuang Li d, Diannan Lu c, *.

Address : ( a School of Applied Sciences, The University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK b University of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK c Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084, Chinad Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China).

Abstract : Valorization of food waste into biofertiliser and its ?eld application

Journal : Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume No. : Vol. 187

Publish Year : 2018

Page No. : 273e284

Main Data : Worldwide significant amounts of food waste are generated daily causing serious environmental issues, occupying land and requiring expenditure of resources for its treatment. A smart method for handling this food waste problem is the development of novel processes targeting the conversion of this waste into value added products. Although valorization of food waste to biofuels, biochemicals and biopolymers have been widely investigated, the utilization of food waste streams into biofertiliser has not been intensively reviewed. Conversion of food waste, especially agriculture residues into biofertiliser would reduce its environmental impact, improve nutrition levels of the soil, decrease requirements for synthetic chemical fertiliser and have a direct benefit on food production. This paper reviews recent progress in the field regarding the production of biofertiliser from food waste, using anaerobic digestion, aerobic composting, chemical hydrolysis, in situ degradation and direct burning methods. This review also highlights the latest field applications of biofertiliser derived from various food waste streams. It confirms that the technology for the conversion of food waste to biofertilisers is viable, but the production efficiency could be improved with better process control strategies, strict quality controls, development of a smart product distribution system and adoption of advanced technologies. Field tests have indicated that biofertilisers which are obtained in proper managed AD plants are safe and could partially replace the use of chemical fertilisers in field application.. Keywords: Biofertiliser (biofertilizer) DigestateWasted food, Food processing waste, Agriculture residue.