The Biotech Concept and Food Processing Wastes

Abstract

The idea of recycling wastes, particularly food wastes, is not new. It has been a consideration of manufacturing and processing systems from early times, as exemplified by the vinegar industry in recovering a value from sour wine (Greenshields, 1978). However, the concepts and motives that drive the ideas for the utilization of waste are remarkably various and often confused, with the result that few schemes succeed, or else they are short-lived and frequently end up as a ‘waste’ of investment. Such examples abound in food processing, despite considerable scientific knowledge and expertise which should have provided viable solutions. Largely the problem has been the inability to make a total assessment of a manufacturing process at the outset, not only from a scientific and technological point of view but also considering the economic, political and market forces involved, and particularly the requirements of Society. There is now an opportunity to change with the emergence of biotechnology and its concepts. Biotechnology is not a single discipline, but an enabling technology which encompasses many disciplines; it embraces all aspects of life and is particularly applicable to the manufacturing industries. Its concepts teach a total assessment embracing the laws governing natural processes and obeying their linked and cyclic patterns. This article considers the concepts of food processing and resource recovery with respect to its wastes before the advent of biotechnology (the Old Concepts) and the new approach now available (the New Concepts).