Food Processing Waste and By-Products Utilisation Network (FoodWasteNet)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The exploitation of abundant food waste and by-products for the sustainable production of a variety of existing and novel products is recognised as a potential strategy for the prevention manufacturing waste. This is driven by environmental and consumer pressures, EU legislation and commercial demands for renewable, biobased products with positive carbon balance. There is a large body of research which seeks to develop products with market potential from such feedstocks, including vegetable and fruit trimmings, fruit and sugar pulps, cereal residues and spent cereal grains, and fish and meat wastes. This is achieved through extraction and post-extraction modification using a combination of industrial biotechnology (IB) and process engineering technologies. The target products include, but are not limited to, biopolymers, bioplastics, biocomposites, oleochemicals, and speciality and platform chemicals, and have existing or potential application in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, packaging and construction industries. In order to achieve this, it is essential that we enhance our knowledge of the composition and potential uses of these feedstocks; how to apply existing and emerging technologies for extracting, fractionating and converting biocomponents from such feedstocks to bioproducts at large scale and in an efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective way.To address the above challenges, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary and the proposed Network aims to bring together researchers and industrialists working in the areas of chemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, enzymology, microbial fermentation, chemical catalysis, polymer science, crop science, packaging and process engineering, with the view to develop novel platforms for the exploitation of these rich natural resources. The Network will run for 5 years, be open for new members and have a strong international dimension. It will be dynamic in its remit and evolve, adopting industry trends, advances in research capabilities, government policy and regulatory frameworks.