Development of an Assessment Tool for Pollution Prevention and Energy Efficicency in Food Industry

摘要

For many years, food industry has been the backbone of the American economy and has been providing employment opportunities to many people. In the United States, consumers spend approximately $1 trillion annually for food that accounts to nearly 10% of the gross domestic product and over 16.5 million people are employed in this industry [11. On the other hand, the contribution of food industry toward environmental deterioration is also severe. It was estimated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) that Americans produce nearly 96 billion pounds of food waste annually, which is equivalent to about 25% of the food prepared [2]. The food waste accounts for nearly 12% of the municipal solid waste, based on the data compiled by the U.S. EPA in 2005 (see Figure 1). In recent years there has been an increasing concern toward the wastes emanating from the food industry. This industry, like any other industry, uses a variety of materials and potential hazardous chemicals that lead to the generation of wastewater with properties that could be difficult to treat.