Technological developments, the pace of which can be accelerated both by institutional mechanisms and by scarcity of moderately priced raw materials for which food processing by-products substitute, can promote recycling efforts. A large amount of organic material holds the promise of being available for conversion to useful products. A new emphasis should be placed on converting these wastes into marketable products. There is much potential to enhance the world food supplies through waste utilization. As the discussion about agriculture changes from production to sustainable production, waste products increasingly will be seen as valuable.
Organic matter produced on the land is a resource which, used properly, is inexhaustible.
Outputs needed from agricultural research have changed because the scope of the problem has. Research on product development and use has been added to research on production. Increasing efforts are being made to convert waste into marketable products so as to meet increasingly strict environmental regulations.