Hydrophobic Polymers from Food Waste: Resources and Synthesis

The food waste generated annually is approximately 1.3 Pg. It contains chemical feedstock that could be diverted to materials production as the mineral oil price rises, incurring no conflict over land use and providing new wealth-creating opportunities for food-producing countries. It potentially realigns the industrial and agricultural sectors of national economies. Food waste production scales with population as does demand for materials. This review builds upon previous landmark papers in Polymer Reviews that address biomass in polymer production. It surveys the current global food-waste resource and demonstrates how it could be used in the generation of hydrophobic polymers.