I not too long ago had the pleasure of moderating a dialogue on meals waste valorization on the FHA Meals & Beverage 2024 occasion in Singapore.
It’s the area’s largest gathering of meals producers, foodservice firms, and foodtech entrepreneurs, welcoming nicely over 70,000 delegates from 91 nations in Singapore’s sprawling Expo conference middle.
Whereas dialog and dealmaking between completely different meals sector stakeholders is the occasion’s bread-and-butter, there’s additionally time for typical convention content material within the type of panel discussions exploring a number of the key points going through the trade right now – not least round questions of sustainability and technological innovation.
Meals waste is one such problem, and the agrifood trade is more and more in search of methods to keep away from landfills and incinerators to repurpose its waste byproducts, producing new income streams and addressing environmental and social challenges within the course of.
Internet hosting a panel titled ‘Waste to Wealth: Alternatives in Agri-Meals Facet-Stream Valorization,’ I used to be joined by three stellar audio system from Singapore’s agrifoodtech scene to discover this subject:
The next are a number of the highlights from the panel dialogue.
From Upcycling to Worth Maximization
Leong’s start-up has developed proprietary know-how to extract proteins, fibers, and different helpful compounds from varied varieties of agrifood processing waste. A few of these compounds have important dietary worth and can be utilized in dietary supplements and purposeful meals, together with its diabetic-friendly, zero-starch, zero-cholesterol noodles comprised of brewery and malting sidestreams. Different extracts have use as bio-scaffolds in cutting-edge industries together with cultivated meat manufacturing.
“When most individuals discuss repurposing meals waste right now, they discuss ‘upcycling’,” with many agrifood producers fairly glad to have sustainability-themed start-ups take their waste away totally free,” she mentioned. This enables them to display their waste has been handled in a extra environmentally pleasant manner than landfill; for instance, with it ending up as feedstock for biogas manufacturing in an anerobic digester.
However Leong argued {that a} change in company considering is required, and that the by-now mainstream language of ‘upcycling’ now not suits the invoice.
“One of many challenges is to alter mindsets,” she mentioned. “We have to open minds to assume past upcycling, to start interested by how [they] can extract most worth from their waste. I don’t assume we must always assume solely by way of ‘scale back, re-use, recycle’. Apart from that, we must be interested by maximizing the worth of our waste.”
In different phrases, we have to see agrifood waste as a enterprise alternative, slightly than merely as an issue that wants fixing.
On the identical time, many communities around the globe – and never simply in lower-income areas – want entry to meals that may present improved vitamin at decrease value and decrease environmental affect, she added. “Absolutely, it is sensible for us to utilize this waste if it may present that vitamin.”
Getting C-suite Purchase-in
Dole is one multinational that seems to have already adopted this angle. Finest generally known as a purveyor of bananas and pineapples, lately it has developed new meals and industrial merchandise from the numerous quantity of agricultural waste that outcomes from cultivating and processing these fruits.
Dole Specialty Elements now accounts for a considerable share of the group’s general revenues, and Ooi shared some recommendation to different agrifood corporates who could be fascinated with taking the waste valorization plunge.
“I’ll say one thing first: It’s a really tough enterprise,” he admitted. “However that doesn’t imply I don’t advocate it.”
If waste is to turn out to be a profitable income supply, then one should return to enterprise fundamentals.
“There are solely two issues you want to take into consideration: the primary is what’s the nutritious half or the precious half you may get from this waste stream? The second is quantity: Are you producing sufficient of this waste sidestream so that you can really begin a enterprise?”
He continued, “If you happen to exit to your [prospective] prospects they may ask, ‘What’s the value?’ and ‘Is that this secure?’ The sustainability comes later.”
Don’t Neglect the Social Side
Poh identified that it isn’t simply firm executives that want convincing; typically, it’s ‘Joe Public’, too.
Otolith Enrichment, the social enterprise he based in 2017, goals to do that via direct engagement and getting the general public’s arms soiled – fairly actually.
“It’s Singapore’s first and solely round ecosystem situated inside a residential space, and we settle for meals waste that’s contributed by companies in addition to households,” he defined.
It operates its black soldier fly farm in a Singapore public housing property, acquiring kitchen meals waste from native residents and faculties to feed its larvae.
The frass (excrement and particles) from the larvae is used as a biofertilizer in native fruit and vegetable patches. The larvae themselves are fed to edible fish that inhabit an aquaponics system; the fishes’ excrement enriches the water within the system, which in turns feeds leafy greens and different indoor-grown crops.
Native residents and schoolkids are inspired to roll up their sleeves and assist out on the venture.
Given the investor curiosity round waste-valorizing insect farms – firms like Ynsect and Innovafeed have raised tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in enterprise funding between them – I requested Poh why he had determined to go down the social enterprise route, with revenue a secondary consideration. “It simply got here naturally,” he mentioned, noting that circularity and environmental sustainability had been passions of his for a very long time.
Echoing this and Ooi’s earlier caveat that meals waste valorization is “a really tough enterprise,” Leong mentioned “I wouldn’t say I received into this enterprise; I’d say I received into this ardour. As a result of it is rather exhausting as a enterprise, and so it positively must be a ardour, too.”
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For a deeper dive into the alternatives round mitigation and valorization of agrifood waste streams, please hold an eye fixed out for Cleantech Group’s upcoming Agrifood Waste Mitigation Sector Perception, publishing quickly.
