Researchers In Japan Transformed Food Scraps Into Materials Stronger Than Concrete

The Japanese are renowned for their ingenuity, creativity, and work ethic. Researchers from Tokyo have transformed food scraps and rubbish into magnificent things, even though most people don’t think this can be done.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science transforms food waste to building materials

They’ve created a new technique that turns leftover fruit and vegetable scraps into a robust and durable building and construction materials in an effort to reduce food waste.

Industrial and domestic food waste, which totals hundreds of billions of pounds yearly, is an issue for the entire world. And a sizable amount of that is made up of edible waste, such as fruit and vegetable peels.

The Japanese experts have looked at novel ways to turn these biological and organic components into highly usable commodities since they believe that the amounts of food waste are unsustainable, harmful to the environment, and extremely expensive.

Tokyo University researchers Kota Machida and Yuya Sakai

When TrueActivist interviewed Yuya Sakai, senior author of the study, she said, “Our goal was to use seaweed and common food scraps to construct materials that were at least as strong as concrete.”

Sakai added, “But since we were using edible food waste, we were also interested in determining whether the recycling process impacted the flavor of the original materials.”

They took inspiration from the common methods used to produce construction materials from wood powder and used the “heat pressing” concept to manufacture their product. Except for the Japanese project, they employed “vacuum-dried, ” made up of ingredients such as cabbage leaves, seaweed, and even orange, pumpkin, banana, and even onion peels.

The material is processed by combining food powder with seasonings and water. It is then heated to a very high temperature before being pressed into a mold. The research group evaluated the product’s bending strength, flavor, aroma, and look.

When TrueActivist interviewed Kota Machida, senior collaborator on the project, she said, “With the exception of the specimen derived from pumpkin, all of the materials exceeded our bending strength target.”

Machida continued, “We also found that Chinese cabbage leaves, which produced a material over three times stronger than concrete, could be mixed with the weaker pumpkin-based material to provide effective reinforcement.”

The researchers were able to preserve the edible qualities of these new, robust materials while enhancing the taste and strength by adding salt and sugar.

Food scraps transformed into concrete

Even after being exposed to air for at least four months, these extraordinarily durable items exhibited no discernible changes in flavor or appearance. They also resisted insects, fungi, and decomposition.

It has become imperative that the world find a means to properly and effectively recycle food scraps since food waste is a global financial and environmental burden.

The world is full of opportunities when you take into account how these materials are processed and made durable enough to be used for construction work and projects while retaining their appetizing taste and nature. In addition to minimizing food waste, this innovative technology has created smart ways to help save the earth in the future. 

Also read about The Japanese Govt is interested in moon-based food production projects for the future.