About 2% of the 80 billion pounds of food the U.S. discards annually comes from food manufacturing and processing – with food waste solids sent to landfills or composted, and liquids poured into sewers. Greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced and income derived by finding a second life for potato peels, fried dough particles, cheese whey and other industrial food-processing waste products. Things from sustainable fuels, biogas and electricity to useful chemicals and organic fertilizer could be produced. For example, fatty waste and mineral-based waste can be digested anaerobically to generate biogas, and soybean waste has enough energy density to be used for biodiesel production.
engineering.osu.edu/news/2023/02/spinning-food-processing-waste-gold