Upgrading anaerobic digestion by cascade fermentation coupled with biogas-based biopolymer production

Food waste is one of the biggest problems society is facing today. Large amounts are sent to landfill sites where they are slowly broken down into methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic digestion, which converts food waste matter into biogas, offers a sustainable route to valorising the enormous untapped potential of food waste. However, the use of food waste as feedstock in biorefineries is still at an early stage of development. The EU-funded UP-GRAD project aims to improve the performance and stability of anaerobic digestion by developing a two-stage lactate-based process. Combining knowledge from different fields – environmental engineering, biochemistry, and microbiology – the project aims to promote practical solutions for next-generation food waste biorefineries.