Biotech dairy waste reduction

Upcycling of dairy products like whey and casein is traditionally expensive and energy intensive. This often results in potentially valuable products going to waste. Foremost Farms USA are working with Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. to cost effectively address this issue as part of a waste reduction strategy.

“Because the breakdown of waste is so often biological, we can take the same microbes that consume waste and engineer their metabolisms to produce inputs to other parts of industrial processes,” Cavanaugh explained. “This helps companies close the loop in their circular manufacturing and supply chains, and gives them an opportunity to both save on waste disposal costs and on input procurement costs, all while helping the planet.”

Using this approach will allow Foremost to enter markets previously unviable for upcycled waste.

The process is claimed to be space and capex light, making it more accessible to smaller processors. This is good news as the food industry seeks to lower its environmental impacts. Making more food available from existing sources via waste reduction is essential to help feed the growing global population. In the end there’s no such thing as waste food products; just ones we haven’t found a way to process for human consumption!