Waste to Wealth: Value Recovery from Bakery Wastes

Abstract

Compost is considered a soil-amending product that can be used for soil improvement and to increase the productivity of organic vegetable crops. Composting can be an alternative solution for solid waste management. In this research, the efficacy of various bakery wastes and bulking agents, such as cow dung, to produce compost were studied. The bin composting method was applied in this research. Commercial effective microorganism was used to study its effectiveness in composting bakery waste compared to common ways of composting. Six compost trials were designed by using different ratios of feedstocks such as creamy and non-creamy bakery waste, paper boxes, eggshells, cow dung, dry leaves, and effective microorganism (EM). For the assessment of the maturity, stability, and quality of the compost, various physical and chemical parameters were routinely monitored, including temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), moisture content, water holding capacity (WHC), phytotoxicity and color intensity of water extract, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and C/N ratio. All six compost trials reached the four important phases of temperature, which are the mesophilic phase, thermophilic phase, second mesophilic phase (cooling phase), and maturation phase. The pH, EC, N, P, and K of every compost trial complied with standard compost requirements. Phytotoxicity study proved that all the compost trials were phytotoxic-free when tested with Phaseolus vulgaris (green bean). The water holding capacity of all six trials ranged from 2.18 to 4.30 g water/g dry material. Various compost trials achieved C/N ratios ranging from 12.01 to 14.48, which is considered within the satisfactory limit. The results showed that bakery waste can be turned into compost, with its quality complying with standard requirement.

Circular Bioeconomy Practices in the Greek Pig Sector: The Environmental Performance of Bakery Meal as Pig Feed Ingredient

“…It has been estimated that the EU produces approximately 3-3.5 million tons of BFF [21]. In addition, the share of losses and wastage in the bread supply chain ranges between 1.2-13.7% [32][33][34][35]. One of the most significant challenges in the successful valorization pathway of BFF is the proper transportation and handling of the BFF through separate collection pathways, since most animal feed production processes require separation of uncontaminated substrates from other materials of animal origin [28,29].…”

“…One of the most significant challenges in the successful valorization pathway of BFF is the proper transportation and handling of the BFF through separate collection pathways, since most animal feed production processes require separation of uncontaminated substrates from other materials of animal origin [28,29]. Although BFF can be collected from various points such as bakeries, supermarkets, sandwich manufacturing companies, and households, segregated collection is usually not feasible, due to the high complexity and associated cost [29,32]. Apart from its recovery as feed in livestock production, alternative approaches to BFF management include, among others: composting, anaerobic digestion for biogas production, incineration, and recovery as nutrients in agriculture [29,30,32,36,37].…”

“…Although BFF can be collected from various points such as bakeries, supermarkets, sandwich manufacturing companies, and households, segregated collection is usually not feasible, due to the high complexity and associated cost [29,32]. Apart from its recovery as feed in livestock production, alternative approaches to BFF management include, among others: composting, anaerobic digestion for biogas production, incineration, and recovery as nutrients in agriculture [29,30,32,36,37]. However, inadequate resources and infrastructure often result in BFF disposal in landfills despite their significant potential for use as a sustainable feed ingredient [21,[38][39][40][41].…”

Demonstration of an Integrated Methodology for the Sustainable Valorisation of Bakery Former Food Products as a Pig Feed Ingredient: A Circular Bioeconomy Paradigm

“…The latest reporting exhibited a 5% overall environmental improvement in a Greek pig farm through integrating bakery meal in conventional feedstock by replacing a percentage of cereals and soya beans [41]. In addition to its utilisation as feed in livestock production, alternative methodologies for FFP management encompass various strategies such as composting, anaerobic digestion for biogas generation, incineration, and nutrient recovery in agriculture [32,[42][43][44][45]. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the insufficiency of resources and infrastructure frequently leads to the unfortunate disposal of FFPs in landfills, disregarding their considerable potential as a sustainable feed ingredient [17,29,34,40,46].…”