Originally published on Wikifarmer.com in December 2023.

When food is wasted instead of being used for human consumption, we face issues such as food insecurity and malnutrition, loss of natural resources, as well as the expansion of landfills, and emission of greenhouse gasses. As a result, reducing food waste has become a priority for most governments worldwide. However, despite our best efforts, some food will always end up as waste due to food safety concerns, logistical malfunctions, unexpected weather conditions, and pest infestations. Therefore, next to food waste reduction strategies, it is important to design effective valorization pathways.¹ Through valorization, i.e., the process of creating value out of something, we can better utilize agri-food surpluses and by-products. This is especially relevant as the food system adopts circular economy principles.

What is the circular economy?

The circular economy is an economic system designed to eliminate waste and promote the continual use of resources. It’s based on keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible, extracting their maximum value, and then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of their life.

The circular economy principles of better-utilizing materials and resources are extremely relevant to the food system as we attempt to cater to the nutritional needs of the growing population while also facing a steep decline in the availability of arable land and agricultural resources. In the years to come, many countries will require their food producers, manufacturers, and retailers to start circularising their operations.² Therefore, it is important to understand and create awareness about how food can be used as a valuable resource when it is removed from the conventional food supply chain.

How can food be valorized in the circular economy?

• Redistributing or reprocessing for human consumption

Sometimes, food gets removed from conventional supply chains for cosmetic reasons such as not meeting certain shape, size, or colour specifications or due to packaging or labelling defects. Such food can still be safely used for human consumption. If regular marketplaces or retail outlets are not an option, such food can be redirected to other avenues such as discount supermarkets and community cooperatives.³ Alternatively, they can be donated to soup kitchens and food banks that support food insecure individuals. By-products such as fruit peels and vegetable trimmings that are unfit for direct consumption can be reprocessed and turned into value-added products like juices, soups, and snacks.⁴ Valuable biological compounds can also be extracted from these materials to produce various food and nutraceutical manufacturing ingredients.³