Food industry wastes is a broad term that encompasses many different kinds of co-products and by-products produced in the processing and manufacture of agricultural commodities into food. Such wastes include cull fruits and vegetables discarded because they do not meet product standards, sugar cane bagasse, whey, waste animal fats, fruit and vegetable seed pits (i.e., cherry pits, peach pits, olive pits), citrus peels and pulp, nut shells, fruit and vegetable pumice (the material left after the juice has been squeezed out), and seafood shells, among others.
With the exception of whey, sugar cane bagasse, and waste fats and greases, little data is available regarding the quantities of food industry wastes. Existing studies are generally limited to estimating quantities for a single state and/or type of waste.