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bioweb.sungrant.org » Technical » Biomass Resources » Agricultural Resources » Processing and Food Wastes » Food Industry Wastes

Food Industry Wastes	Printer Friendly

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 (processing wastes), as well as cull fruits and vegetables (products discarded because they do not meet product standards). Processing wastes include, but are not limited to, sugar cane bagasse, whey and 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.   Very limited data is available regarding the quantities of these products. Annual citrus peel waste in Florida is estimated to be 5 million tons of wet waste (1.2 million tons of dry waste) (Flores, 2006). In Eastern Washington, it is estimated that 2,192 dry tons of cull fruits and vegetables, 14,899 dry tons of fruit pumice and vegetable wastes, and 3,625 dry tons of mint slugs (solid wastes generated after distilling mint oil from leaves) and hops are available annually (Chen, 2003). In California, an estimated 100,537 dry tons of cull vegetables were available in 2003 and a projected 122,555 dry tons could be available by 2017. Additionally, an estimated 659,377 dry tons of food processing wastes (almond and walnut shells, fruit and olive pits, rice hulls) were available in 2005 and projected to be 827,376 dry tons in 2017 (California Energy Commission, 2004).

References
California Energy Commission, February 2004, An assessment of biomass resources in California, Consultant Report. Chen, Shulin, Craig Frear, BingCheng Zhao, Guobin Fu, Julie Wallman, and Mark Fuchs, September 2003, Bioenergy Inventory and Assessment for Eastern Washington, Washington State University, Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Flores, Alfredo, Ethanol Feedstock from Citrus Peel Waste, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Agricultural Research, April 2006.