Integrated Technologies for Food Waste Valorization: A Sustainable Approach toward a Circular Bioeconomy

Abstract

Food waste is a significant global problem with far-reaching environmental and social impacts. The inefficient processing accelerates the ecological degradation and enhances the greenhouse gas emissions, which urges the development of advanced bioprocessing strategies. Food waste is an abundant and inexpensive feedstock for biorefineries because of its rich content of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and minerals, which enables the generation of high-value products and the realization of the vision of a circular bioeconomy. Given the rising demand for energy and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, recent research has increasingly employed genetic recombination and synthetic biology to improve the production of biofuels, bioplastics and bioactive compounds, overcoming critical bottlenecks in existing biorefinery systems. This review underlines the synergistic role of biorefineries and omics technologies in accelerating resource recovery and curbing waste generation, while providing perspectives on future directions for organic feedstock valorization.