Upcycling food loss and byproducts to fulfill demand for key platform chemicals and enhance carbon and economic benefits

Upcycling food loss and byproducts to fulfill demand for key platform chemicals and enhance carbon and economic benefits | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Analysis Upcycling food loss and byproducts to fulfill demand for key platform chemicals and enhance carbon and economic benefits Wei-Shan Chen, Yujun Wei, Federico Croci, Susan Cummings, Xuexian Li, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9225422/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Food loss and by-products (FLB) are promising feedstocks for platform chemicals (PCs) production; however, it remains unclear to what extent they can fulfill PC demand and bring carbon and economic benefits. This study develops a systematic approach to quantify the availability and composition of FLB, assess their contribution to fulfilling PC demand, and optimize their allocation to the production of the top 11 PCs in China, the U.S., and the EU to maximize carbon and economic benefits. Results indicate that FLB satisfies all PC demands in these regions, except ethanol in the U.S. due to its excessive demand. FLB-based PC production reduces the carbon footprint of the local chemical industry by 6.92% - 9.64% and contributes up to 39.97% of the local chemical market value. This study demonstrates the potential of FLB-based PC production in mitigating climate change and illustrates an approach for optimizing complex resource allocation for FLB valorization. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate-change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryExcel1.xlsx Supplementary Excel 1 SupplementaryFLBPC.docx Supplementary_FLB_PC SupplementaryExcel2Yieldcalculation.xlsx Supplementary Excel 2_Yield calculation SupplementaryExcelLPresult.xlsx Supplementary Excel_LP_Result Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9225422","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Analysis","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":634614079,"identity":"54ffb625-6eaf-4035-a7fe-2e2e9699986c","order_by":0,"name":"Wei-Shan 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