Sustainable Utilisation and Management of Food Waste for High-Value Products

Welcome to the Special Issue on “Sustainable Utilisation and Management of Food Waste for High-Value Products”. This Special Issue focuses on one of the most critical challenges facing our world today—the efficient management and utilisation of food waste. It presents a variety of scientific investigations from renowned scholars and researchers worldwide to address this challenge, covering an array of topics ranging from fundamental research to real-world applications. Food waste is a global dilemma that requires urgent attention. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption worldwide, or around 1.3 billion tons, is wasted annually [1]. This enormous waste entails significant economic, environmental, and food security implications. Economically, the worldwide financial cost of food wastage exceeds USD 1 trillion annually [2]. Environmentally, if wasted food were considered a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Additionally, the disposal of wasted food exacerbates landfill pressures and depletes limited natural resources used in food production, such as land and water. From a food security perspective, the shocking extent of food waste simply contrasts with the reality of almost 720 and 811 million people suffering from hunger globally