**1. Food Waste Valorization**

Food waste is becoming a growing and important concern at both local and global levels [1,2]. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), one-third of all food production is lost or wasted globally, equivalent to 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption wasted per year with an economic loss of EUR 800 billion [3]. About 44–47% is represented by fruit, vegetable, meat, and fish produced every year and wasted [4]. Because of the large availability and the composition of food waste, there is an increasing interest in their recycling and valorization.

Appropriate waste management is recognized as an essential prerequisite for sustainable development, contributing to the attainment of the global sustainability goals (SDGs 12 and 13). In this regard, Tsai et al. [5] reported an interesting study focused on the promotion policies and regulatory measures for the valorization of mandatory recyclable food waste from industrial sources in Taiwan, where the central governing agencies jointly promulgated some regulatory measures for promoting the production of bio-based products from the industrial food waste valorization such as animal feed, soil fertilizer, and bioenergy [5].

Additionally, food waste has a high potential due to its chemical composition, mainly represented by carbohydrate polymers such as starch, proteins, lipids, cellulose, and other microelements [6–9]. Due to this composition, it can be classified as a low-cost, high potency second-generation feedstock [1]. Recycling and bioconversion of food wastes represent a great opportunity in supporting sustainable development by their conversion, through a microbial fermentation process, into value-added products such as enzymes, feed and food additives, fertilizer, biofuels, animal feeds as well as other useful chemicals or products, food grade pigments, and single cell protein (SCP), enhancing food security and environmentally sustainable development [10–21].

**Citation:** Tropea, A. Food Waste Valorization. *Fermentation* **2022**, *8*, 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation 8040168

Received: 30 March 2022 Accepted: 1 April 2022 Published: 6 April 2022

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