Kansas State University
Hydrothermal pretreatment turns wet acidic peel into 2,3-butanediol.
In developmentUniversity
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Updated Sept 30, 2026
Food waste valorization covers turning a food industry side stream into something worth selling. On Halo, the solutions cover side streams into chemicals and fuels, side streams into materials, insects and microbes grown on the residue, and fractionation into functional ingredients. Sign up to search the full network and post your specific need.
Side streams into chemicals and fuels
MM
University of California, Davis
A biphasic acid reactor makes CMF and furfural, with no drying and no biology.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Monash University, Melbourne
A water-based biorefinery route to furfural, keeping the cellulose too.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Colorado State University
Arrested anaerobic digestion at low pH yields butyric and caproic acids.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Rhodotorula toruloides converts the stream into oleochemicals and yeast biomass.
In developmentUniversity
JK
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Catalytic hydrothermal processing straight to hydrogen and methane-rich gas.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
One-pot hydrolytic hydrogenation gives polyols for rigid polyurethane foam.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Side streams into materials
WJ
Innotech Materials, LLC
A catalytic route to compostable PFAS-free cellulose composites.
Sponsored researchIn developmentSupplier
DMSO extraction and supercritical CO2 recover several streams at once.
Sponsored researchIn developmentStartup
Texas A&M University, College Station
Carbon quantum dots from spent peel, put back into antimicrobial pectin film.
Co-developmentIn developmentUniversity
AR
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
The same dots aimed at security printing and anti-counterfeiting.
Sponsored researchIn developmentUniversity
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Fermentable sugars feed microbes that make biodegradable PHA polymers.
In developmentUniversity
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Who is working on food waste valorization
Organizations in food waste valorization
Universities, startups, and suppliers with solutions in food waste valorization.
Food waste valorization organizations
Innovators in food waste valorization
Researchers and inventors advancing food waste valorization.
Food waste valorization expertsAbout food waste valorization
One feedstock accounts for most of the work on Halo: the wet, acidic peel and pomace left after pectin extraction. Twenty-four entries attack it, splitting by what they make from it, and the remaining entries apply the same logic to whey, used cooking oil, sugarbeet pulp and corn pericarp. On Halo it spans four groups, including side streams into chemicals and fuels, side streams into materials, and insects and microbes grown on the residue.
Stage of development. Work on food waste valorization on Halo is split between university programs and companies. 29% of the solutions are in market. Kansas State University and Texas A&M University, College Station have the most, followed by Michigan State University. Co-development and sponsored research are the usual partnering routes, and about 38% of the solutions that state terms offer licensing.
Three trends in food waste valorization on Halo
One feedstock, twenty-four answers. Wet acidic peel and pomace from pectin extraction is the subject of twenty-four entries, almost all of them at TRL 5. They split entirely by output: fuel gas, furfural, butyric acid, polyurethane polyols, concrete admixture, carbon quantum dots, biodegradable polymers, insect protein. The feedstock is settled and the question is what it should become.
Wet and acidic is the whole difficulty. Entry after entry names the same obstacle and claims to have solved it: high moisture, low pH, fibrous. One takes the peel with only minimal handling, one uses the acidity as its own reagent, one processes hydrothermally with no drying step, and one runs a biphasic reactor with no biological catalyst. Drying the feedstock is the cost everybody is avoiding.
Biology and chemistry take different exits. Six entries grow something on the residue, from black soldier fly larvae to mealworms to a living bioreactor of detritivorous cockroaches, and end with protein and lipid. Sixteen run it through a reactor and end with a molecule or a material. The same peel becomes pet food on one path and a rigid foam on another.
686organizations
769solutions listed
53%from university labs
29%in market
Frequently asked questions
What is food waste valorization?
Food waste valorization covers turning a food industry side stream into something worth selling. It spans routes to platform chemicals and fuel gas, conversion into cellulose composites, packaging films and construction admixtures, insects and microbes grown directly on the residue, fractionation into functional ingredients, and the same work applied to whey, used cooking oil and corn pericarp. Food processors, chemical companies and ingredient manufacturers are the buyers.
What are examples of food waste valorization?
Five examples of food waste valorization solutions on Halo include:
- Hydrothermal pretreatment turns wet acidic peel into 2,3-butanediol. (Kansas State University)
- A catalytic route to compostable PFAS-free cellulose composites. (Innotech Materials, LLC)
- Black soldier fly larvae convert citrus peel and apple pomace into meal and oil. (InsectBiotech)
- A cascade that grades fiber and recovers residual pectin, sugars and minerals. (Satbayev University)
- Whey permeate fermented to 2,3-butanediol, then recovered on a membrane. (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
What are the latest food waste valorization innovations?
Over the past 90 days, researchers and innovators on Halo have added these food waste valorization solutions:
Which companies and suppliers are developing food waste valorization?
There are 686 organizations with food waste valorization solutions on Halo, 171 of them universities and research institutions. Among them are Kansas State University, University of California, Davis, and Monash University, Melbourne. Most offer co-development or sponsored research. Sign up to see every organization working in the area and to send them your specific need.
How do I find food waste valorization research partners?
Browsing food waste valorization solutions on Halo is free. Sign up to search the full network and save the ones you want. Post your specific need to get exact matches. Organizations reply directly on the platform.
What are R&D teams looking for in food waste valorization?
Over the past 12 months, R&D teams on Halo have posted these food waste valorization needs:
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