Cutting-edge technologies for mitigating food waste in sustainable biohydrogen and high-value bioproduct innovation- A comprehensive review

Food waste has emerged as a critical global issue, driven by increasing food demand and production, which in turn contribute to significant losses across the supply chain. This review explores sustainable, low carbon strategies for mitigating food waste while recovering valuable nutrients through energy production. Adopting holistic, multi-instrument effective management approach, the paper emphasizes the transition towards a regenerative and circular economy, with a particular focus on integrating industrial biorefinery operations. The environmental and public health impacts of food waste are examined to underscore the urgency of the issues. Among potential solutions, biohydrogen is identified as a promising clean and renewable energy carrier, capable of producing only water as a byproduct and delivering approximately three times more energy than conventional gasoline or diesel. The review highlights effective technologies and strategies for biohydrogen production from food waste, along with performance enhancing technique. Furthermore, it analyses existing policies, current regulations, implementation challenges and bioeconomic considerations necessary for advancing towards a zero-waste system. The findings lay the groundwork for future research and technological advancements in food waste valorization, particularly in scaling up biohydrogen production and biorefinery applications.