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Kaltrina Bylykbashi
While nearly 10% of the world’s population goes hungry, a reported 1.2 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year before it even reaches our shops and markets. An additional 17% of this food is then thrown away by consumers, which means a staggering 40% of all food produced goes uneaten and unused worldwide.
Food waste contributes to many climatic problems. It is responsible for roughly 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, and accounts for 38% of total energy usage in the global food system. With the world's demand for food predicted to rise by 50% by 2050, there’s no sign of the problem abating. Farmland, which already occupies 38% of all land, is rapidly expanding to meet this surging demand, inhibiting biodiversity and fuelling climate change.
Reducing and repurposing this wasted resource is essential. Fortunately, food waste happens to be a versatile feedstock, applicable across a long list of industries including beauty, food, construction, and energy. It's a valuable avenue for innovation. Vanguard Renewables, an operator that takes waste from farms and turns it into renewable electricity and gas, was acquired for USD 700 million in 2022.
The same year, food waste solutions funding reached USD 1.7 billion, which was awarded to companies such as Toast Ale, a craft beer company that uses leftover bread to create new drinks; ALT TEX, which creates a bioplastic polyester alternative from food waste; and Apeel, a company which uses edible coating to prolong the life of fruit and vegetables.
of all food goes uneaten
In 2022, food waste funding reached USD 1.7 billion
Launches of food and beverages containing upcycled ingredients saw a 122% CAGR in the five years leading up to 2022
Sitting closest in the chain to food production, food businesses have become leaders in the fight against waste. Launches of food and beverages containing upcycled ingredients saw a 122% compound annual growth rate in the five years leading up to the end of 2021.
As expected, much of this innovation stems from startups, but multinational FMCG brands like Del Monte Foods are also using their reach to scale solutions. Since 2021, the company has been upcycling surplus green beans for canned products, and pineapple juice for its fruit infusions. Meanwhile, Dole stopped 80% of the "ugly" fruit grown on its Thailand farms from becoming waste by repurposing them for packaging or snacks, or sending them to biogas facilities. It aims to eliminate 100% of food loss on its farms by 2025.
On a more localised level, London’s Spring restaurant has offered its ‘Scratch’ menu since 2018, using waste produce such as potato and beetroot tops to create reasonably priced dishes. In Denmark, Rasmus Munk’s Alchemist creates dishes from food that would otherwise be thrown away, including a cocktail named a ‘Fur Martini’ that contains rabbit ears, while Texan restaurant Intero stretches scrap ingredients through fermentation.
Beauty companies are turning to once-discarded fibres, seeds, skins, and kernels to create all-new formulations and even packaging. London-based brand Upcircle has diverted 450 tonnes of used coffee grounds by turning them into body scrubs; New York brand LOLI takes food-grade ingredients such as discarded plum kernels and date oil and transforms them into serums and moisturisers; and British brand Bybi features upcycled ingredients in over 50% of its skincare range. Marks & Spencer even turns the waste from its wine production process into skincare ingredients for its Pure range.
The Upcycled Beauty Company connects brands with upcycled ingredient suppliers and has hundreds of ingredients listed in its online Upcycled Ingredient Directory. Solutions include hair styling actives made from the liquid leftover from cooked chickpeas (Faba TONIQ), nourishing emollients made from apricot kernel oils (Lipovol P), and exfoliants made from upcycled white rice (White Rice CRUSH).
“By-products have a lot of untapped potential,” says Jina Kim, CEO and founder at New York beauty company Circumference. “We use a variety of different ingredients, depending on the product function. For instance, the cleanser features both upcycled grape and olive leaves, as well as a powerful linoleic acid complex that helps soothe inflammation and redness for softer, firmer skin.”
Circumference’s hero product, the Daily Regenerative Gel Cleanser, was created in partnership with what has been dubbed ‘Instagram’s favourite olive oil’ company, Brightland. Each harvest season, Circumference coordinates with Brightland to collect botanical by-products from its olive groves and transport them to its labs. Here, analysis is taken to validate the nutritional value of the leaves and then a chemical-free, pressurised extraction process is initiated to uphold the integrity and potency of their bioactives. Nothing is wasted, as even the post-extraction mulch is returned to Brightland’s farms to be repurposed as compost, creating a localised, closed loop.
The fashion industry is dipping its toe in the water when it comes to food waste, but like many 'natural' innovations, it is often reliant on plastic. Piñatex, for instance, uses pineapple leaf fibre waste to create vegan leather, but its base fibre contains PLA and its coating contains PU. Bolt Thread’s Mylo leather, which is made from mycelium, still uses a polyurethane finish, while Pangaia’s FLWRDWN is made from pesticide-free wildflowers – and a hidden biopolymer.
One company that's made a push into using plastic-free food waste as its key source of material content is Circular Systems. To make Agraloop Biofibre, the company partners with farms around the world to repurpose stalks, stems, and leaves from crops such as hemp, flax, bananas, and pineapples. Major chains such as & Other Stories and H&M have managed to incorporate the company’s fibre into their clothing, but a lot more work needs to be done, according to Andrew Schulenburg, Circular Systems’ senior vice president of marketing. Even though some of its mills can produce hundreds of tonnes of fibre – its German mill, which works with CBD by-product, produces as much as 250 tonnes of fibre – there are not enough global crops producing by-product residue that would allow it to meet the demand of retail giants.
Schulenberg says Circular Systems is currently working with 10-15 mills globally. The “north star” for the company would be to enable more farmers around the world to use their by-products to create textile-grade fibre, while also incorporating a ‘mini mill’ concept where waste would be used to create bioenergy that would in turn power those mills.
Accounting for nearly 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, the building and construction sector is a prime candidate for unlocking the benefits of food waste. London-based company Biohm says there has been an “incredible amount of demand” for its products in recent years. The company’s mycelium boards, which rival MDF and plywood, are made with a proprietary plant-based binder named Orb (Organic Rescue Bio-Compounds), which can be mixed with a variety of different waste products such as orange peel and coffee grains, all sourced locally from juicers and coffee roasters. Other feedstocks Biohm has tested include cardboard, sugarcane, cocoa, and even human hair. Its insulation product is grown using agricultural waste feed.
Elsewhere in the construction industry, Norwegian wood producer Kebony uses food waste to produce sustainable softwood that behaves like hardwood; Austrian research company Wood K Plus created Maize Cob Board from disposed corn cobs; and Enviro Board developed a patented milling process which converts a host of agricultural waste, from rice straw to sugar cane, into building panels. Applications for food waste-based building boards include exterior and interior walls, roofs, subfloors, partitions, insulation, and sound-proofing.
Totalling just 1% of all of Europe’s carbon emissions, the ceramics industry is often overlooked for its climate impact. But its energy use from furnaces, and emissions from additives, still need to be reduced if it is to meet emissions targets by 2030.
Ceramics artist Carly Bream has created a small-scale solution with Margate restaurant Angela’s. Using fishbones, seafood shells, and charcoal created in the restaurant’s oven, she has developed a line of ceramic pieces, including cups, bowls, and plates. But her ambitions stretch much further: she would like to eventually create a closed-loop system that would see wasted food power the kilns that fire the products.
“Small production of ceramics is three to four times more impactful in carbon emissions than working on an industrial scale, so for this to be truly effective, it would have to be scaled with major manufacturers,” says Bream, who is currently looking for funding to expand the concept.
For a meaningful reduction of food waste, innovations need to scale and global players need to step in. Follow the lead of Nivea, which partnered with Kaffe Bueno in 2022 to repurpose used coffee grounds for its Naturally Good moisturiser.
Like Circumference, Circular Systems envisages localised textile production hubs that would be self-sufficient and regenerative. Proximity sourcing, production, and fuel will play a major role in reducing the impact of food waste innovations.
Feedstocks for upcycling should never create competition with the food chain, therefore scaling will be reliant upon building up a robust network of agricultural partners who can provide the necessary waste products at the necessary volumes.