Upcycling Food Waste into Biomaterials Applicable to Medical Products

Genna Mahabeer and Sha Jin ()
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Genna Mahabeer: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
Sha Jin: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Globally, an estimated 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted each year, according to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A variety of waste streams constantly generate large amounts of food waste that end up in landfills. As food waste is left to naturally decay in landfills, it emits greenhouse gases that pollute the environment and induce climate change. However, most types of food waste contain valuable components that can be extracted to manufacture industrial products. Therefore, instead of abandoning food waste to decay and harm the environment, there is an alternative to upcycle it as a new raw materials supply source. This review provides a comprehensive update on how environmental sustainability can be improved using diverse types of food waste as sources to generate biomaterials for fabricating medical products, including lignin, cellulose, chitosan, pectin, collagen, hydroxyapatite, and biodegradable polymers. The review also highlights biochemical technologies applied for extracting useful components from food waste and details the current advances for developing medical products, including wound dressings and nanoparticles for tissue engineering and drug delivery.

Keywords: food waste; bioconversion; upcycle; environmental biotechnologies; medical materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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