Upcycling food loss and waste into animal feed

Publication date: 16-07-2026
Extent: 34 pages

Contributions by: Gerald C. Shurson, University of Minnesota, USA

Chapter synopsis:

About 33 to 40% of the global food production is lost or wasted at all stages of the supply chain. This inefficiency of natural resource use is unsustainable for feeding a growing world population of people. Recycling nutrients in FLW into animal feed is an underutilized but essential approach for recovering and repurposing valuable nutrients while sparing natural resources needed to produce food. Plant-derived FLW comprises more than 85% of the total produced globally, have negligible microbiological feed safety risks, and high moisture sources can be easily ensiled or co-ensiled with other crop residues for long-term storage and preservation for feeding to ruminants. Feeding animal-derived FLW sources to designated animal species also has minimal feed safety risk if adequate thermal processing (>80° C for 30 minutes) is used. Sources of animal-derived FLW that may contain prions or African swine fever virus should be diverted to other non-feed recycling uses.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2025.0171.18