{"id":1591,"date":"2025-04-30T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T09:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2025-05-30T13:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T12:43:03","slug":"stop-food-waste-day-helping-businesses-turn-food-waste-into-profit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/2025\/04\/30\/stop-food-waste-day-helping-businesses-turn-food-waste-into-profit\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Food Waste Day: helping businesses turn food waste into profit"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s estimated that 45% of root crops, fruit and vegetables produced globally is lost or wasted every year. To help change this, Kent researchers have contributed to a new Growing Kent and Medway report designed to aid food and drink businesses harness the untapped potential of food waste to create new revenue streams and reduce the sector\u2019s environmental footprint.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The report is informed by leading experts in the\u00a0<\/span>School of Natural Sciences<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and their experience working with businesses in the food and drink industry through the\u00a0<\/span>Biotechnology Hub for Sustainable Food and Drink<\/span><\/a>. Their collaborations are used to highlight how advances in biotechnology can be applied by horticulturists, plant-based food and drink producers and processors to transform waste from horticultural crops into high-value chemicals and materials. Many of these projects have seen Kent students work alongside world-leading academic supervisors to deliver real industry change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As postgraduate student, Abbey Ruffell, explains: \u2018I\u2019m working in Professor Anastasios Tsaousis\u2019 lab alongside fellow student William Edwards to support a project with a company called\u00a0<\/span>Inspro<\/span><\/a>. We\u2019re taking food waste and feeding it to Black Solider Fly larvae to convert it into high quality animal feed and fertiliser which can then be fed to chickens. As well as developing links with potential employers and working on research papers which will help boost my CV, my research has the potential to influence the agricultural sector to help make our food systems more affordable and sustainable.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another project highlighted in the report is the collaboration between\u00a0<\/span>Rent a Cherry Tree<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Dr Marina Ezcurra and Dr Jenny Tullet which explored how \u2018waste\u2019 cherries can be upcycled into new foods rich in compounds with health benefits. Their lab has since turned to addressing waste in the South East\u2019s expanding viticulture industry, a sector catered for in the report by contributions from PhD student, William Sullivan. By researching the potential health benefits of compounds present in grape pomace, he hopes to contribute to the transformation of viticulture waste into healthy food products.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The report emphasises the need for a joined-up approach between food producers, scientists and innovative bio-refinery businesses to understand and realise the untapped potential of the waste material.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Rob Barker, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry, explains: \u2018As research and technology continue to advance, we can expect to see even more innovative applications for horticultural waste, driving a circular economy that prioritises resource efficiency and environmental responsibility. As a university, we have a major role to play in supporting this, both by facilitating collaboration and the exchange of knowledge between researchers and businesses, and by giving students the experience they need to take on industry challenges and opportunities as future graduates. \u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Barker contributed to the report alongside Dr Helen Cockerton, Dr Lorraine Fisher, Sophie Packer and William Sullivan, alongside fellow scientists from the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plant Crop Waste and Valorisation in South East England: The Potential of Horticultural By-products for a Biobased Circular Economy, is available to read on the\u00a0<\/span>Growing Kent & Medway website<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s estimated that 45% of root crops, fruit and vegetables produced globally is lost or wasted every year. To help change this, Kent researchers have … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74795,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[282613,13897,282603,256068],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1593,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/1593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/ris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}