# A Perspective on Emerging Inter-Disciplinary Solutions for the Sustainable Management of Food Waste
## 4 Food Waste Management, Regulations, and Biological Treatment Technologies  
The global food system significantly contributes to climate changing greenhouse gas emissions. It significantly influences the surrounding ecosystem, including through the destruction of biodiversity, water loss, and the emission of pollutants [76]. Policymakers are becoming increasingly conscious of the need to address these issues. Moreover, they are increasingly confronted with food security and nutrition-related concerns. As a significant contributor to global warming, many global policymakers view the food system as one of the most severe environmental challenges. Food waste management is inherently challenging since it necessitates numerous coordinated measures involving several public and local governments [77; 78; 79; 80]. Given that a circular economy fosters the reduction of environmental effects and increases resource efficiency, [PERSON] et al. [81] and [PERSON] et al. [82] believe that reforming the behaviour of individuals is fundamental to engage them in the transition to a circular economy. The circular economy aims to reduce waste and unnecessary resource consumption by turning waste into value-added products [83], and policy instruments that incentivize behaviour supporting circular food systems are critical for systemic behavioural change. For instance, European cities have collaborated to share lessons learned in market incentives, public awareness campaigns, and producing renewable energy and agricultural bio-fertilizers [84]. According to Colombian law (Resolution 0754_2014), once a waste management plan is implemented, the local authority is responsible for controlling, updating, optimizing, and improving the plan to ensure an efficient waste management service [85]. To guarantee effective urban food waste policies, over two-thirds of the 169 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) require adequate participation and cooperation with local and regional governments [86; 87; 88]. Food packaging materials are now given significant attention as part of global efforts to dramatically reduce food waste, with legislation being modified to encourage the adoption of ecologically friendly, reusable, and recyclable packaging solutions [89]. Furthermore, the European Commission is constantly updating marketing guidelines to highlight the importance of sustainable food consumption and strengthen educational messaging about the importance of reducing food waste in school systems [69]. According to research by ReFED [90], consumer awareness programs have become one of the most utilized interventions for achieving economic and environmental benefits from food waste reduction in the United States. Moreover, intelligent waste management initiatives including smart bins [91; 92], bin-cams [93], fridge-cams [94], and awareness campaigns such as Canada's \"Love Food Hate Waste\" [95] have previously been found to improve waste management significantly. The study of household food waste has also attracted increasing interest, as has that of viable options for treating processing wastes and valorizing them into usable goods. Nonetheless, the high costs of processing organic materials compel the search for low-cost raw materials to synthesize valuable chemicals [96; 97]. This technique can address fuel supply constraints and reduce the waste created by food processing businesses in a cost effective manner [98]. Technology, on the other hand, may be used by businesses to, among other things, increase the number of viable options for valorizing food waste [99], better evaluate the true worth of waste, boost waste reduction and recovery techniques [100], and expand professional awareness [101]. Surprisingly, many researches on food waste reduction neglect the relative importance of technologically sustainable solutions for food-service organizations. However, [PERSON] et al.