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0 According to Made in Canada, every year, over 50 million tons of food is wasted, 79 kilograms (174 pounds) per average household of food waste (Blair, 2022). Excessive food waste is inherently bad, as wasted food could have been used to feed those who are undernourished, it wastes human energy as there was a lot of work put into producing and presenting the food (production, transportation, and handling generating carbon dioxide), and it is also costly to those who have now wasted their money on the uneaten food (Buzby, 2022). Food waste is also terrible for the environment as the food that ends up in landfills generates methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas (Buzby, 2022).
However, despite food waste’s harm, it can become productive when used properly. Food waste can be turned into clean energy through two processes, biomass gasification and through using anaerobic digestion. Individuals can also be productive with food waste by repurposing it into different meals, snacks, cleaning products or plant aids.
Biomass gasification is the process of using oxygen, steam or heat or a mixture of these to convert food, agricultural waste or other biological materials into gases that can be used as fuel (Salas, 2022). This process works by mixing semi-dry food waste into a hot substance that converts it to fuel gas, a process called fluidization (Salas, 2022). It converts the food waste into syngas, an energy-rich synthesis gas and a mixture of methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, that can generate heat and electricity (Salas, 2022). This process is carbon neutral (Salas, 2022). The gases produced can also be converted into methanol and ammonia, and biomass gasification produces biochar, a carbon-rich material that can be used for soil fertility (Salas, 2022).
It is believed that over time, biomass gasification can be used to replace the consumption of fossil fuels. The Canadian Atikokan Generating Station has produced 205 megawatts of clean electricity using biomass gasification, which is enough energy to power around 70,000 residential and commercial buildings (Salas, 2022). There are also global projects in countries like Italy, Denmark, Brazil, Finland and the United States that are developing cost-efficient ways to use biomass gasification (Salas, 2022).
Another process that can be used is called anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digesters are often used on farms to generate electricity and deal with manure but can also be used with food scraps (US Epa, 2019). This process breaks down animal manure, food waste and wastewater biosolids using bacteria in a reactor to produce biogas and digestate (US Epa, 2019). Digestate is composed of liquid and solid portions and can create organic fertilizer, animal bedding, crop irrigation, horticulture products and other products like building materials (US Epa, 2019). The production of biogas is more important for the general public as the energy in biogas can provide heat, electricity, power cooling systems and vehicle fuel in the same way that natural gases can (US Epa, 2019). Two digesters with a total capacity of 2 million gallons can create enough electricity to power around 600 homes (Kart, 2023).
Individuals can be productive with their food waste outside of major energy-producing processes. To reduce the amount of waste a person produces, they can take inventory of the food in their pantry, refrigerator and freezer before purchasing more food to ensure that they do not accidentally purchase excess food. They can also create a meal plan and plan to use all their food and save and eat leftovers or be creative with them. Stale bread can be turned into breadcrumbs and croutons. People can try food preservation methods like pickling to preserve the lifespan. The lettuce’s bottom parts, lettuce hearts, can be used to grow fresh lettuce. Cucumber peels can moisturize skin in bathwater (Move for Hunger, 2022). Citrus peels can be turned into candy using water, sugar, salt and vanilla. Other than composting their food waste, people can use old fruits, vegetables, grains, peels, coffee filters and egg shells mixed with sawdust, wood ash and dried leaves as a natural fertilizer for their plants (Kerone, 2022). Egg shells can also be used as a cleaning agent by making a powder with baking soda or mixing ground eggshells with soap and water (Move for Hunger, 2022).
References
Blair, N. (2022, September 14). Food waste statistics in Canada. Made in CA. https://madeinca.ca/food-waste-canada-statistics/
Buzby, J. (2022, January 24). Food waste and its links to greenhouse gases and climate change. Usda.gov. https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/01/24/food-waste-and-its-links-greenhouse-gases-and-climate-change
Kart, J. (2023, January 6). Food waste kept out of landfills and turned into electricity at family farms. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2023/01/06/food-waste-kept-out-of-landfills-and-turned-into-electricity-at-family-farms/?sh=4881d0c13794
Kerone. (2022, August 2). How to compost food waste and use as organic fertilize. Kerone.com. http://kerone.com/blog/how-to-compost-food-waste-and-use-as-organic-fertilize/
Move for Hunger. (2022). Reusing food waste, scraps, and leftovers. Moveforhunger.org. https://moveforhunger.org/reusing-food-waste-scraps-leftovers
Salas, S. E. (2022, March 27). Here’s how food waste can generate clean energy. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/heres-how-food-waste-can-generate-clean-energy-176352
Us Epa, O. (2019). How does anaerobic digestion work? https://www.epa.gov/agstar/how-does-anaerobic-digestion-work
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