Anywhere that sells food and drink ends up with food waste at the end of every day. It may be food that has gone past its sell-by date, or waste as a byproduct of creating something else, such as coffee grounds in the case of a coffeeshop. Some of that gets recycled, but most of it still ends up being dumped at waste facilities for processing or, worse still, burnt.
Scientists are working to change this situation, however, and giving companies more control over their own food waste. With that in mind, a research team working out of the City University of Hong Kong is focusing on the development of food biorefineries.
In simple terms a biorefinery works on the principle that most food waste can easily be turned into something useful, in particular core ingredients for other products. It does this by first breaking down the carbohydrates in the waste using enzymes found in fungi. That results in lots of sugar which is put into a fermenter with bacteria and converted into succinic acid.
At room temperature succinic acid takes the form of colorless, odorless crystals making it very easy to store. It has many uses though, including as a sweetener, as well as for the creation of bioplastics, detergents, and even medicines. Where food waste costs money to dispose of, succinic acid could instead be sold to a manufacturing company who will use it to produce their own products, netting the seller a tidy profit.
Working with the non-profit The Climate Group and partnering with Starbucks in Hong Kong, the research team set about creating a biorefinery that could transform Starbucks? coffee grounds and stale bakery goods into the ever so useful succinic acid. In doing so, Starbucks Hong Kong?s 5000 tons of annual food waste doesn?t have to be dumped or sent to recycle centers. It can instead be refined and reformed, possibly eventually becoming the plastic caps that fit on top of the Starbucks cups we all drink coffee out of.
Read more at ACS
hunger games trailer hunger games trailer in plain sight hunger games movie review bats hunger games review jeff saturday
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.