Urban food systems and urban agriculture are at the forefront of the global sustainability agenda as cities grapple with the interconnected challenges of food security, resource depletion, climate change, and rapid urbanization (). Among these challenges, food waste represents one of the most significant inefficiencies within contemporary food systems. Generated across every stage of the food value chain-from agricultural production and processing to retail, food service, and household consumption-food waste imposes substantial environmental, economic, and social costs. At the same time, it presents an important opportunity for sustainability. Increasing recognition of food waste as a recoverable resource rather than an inevitable by-product has accelerated interest in circular approaches that recover value through innovative technologies, sustainable products, improved logistics, and regenerative resource management.
This evolving perspective inspired the Research Topic “Circular urban food systems: innovations in food waste valorization for sustainable cities.” The Research Topic was conceived as an interdisciplinary forum to showcase research advancing the transition from linear food systems toward circular models that retain the value of food resources for as long as possible. Although the published studies address diverse scientific questions, they collectively illustrate that circularity cannot be achieved through technological innovation alone. Lasting progress requires integrating engineering, behavioral science, economics, policy, and systems thinking into coherent interdisciplinary strategies that strengthen the sustainability and resilience of urban food systems.
A central theme emerging from this Research Topic is that effective food waste prevention begins with understanding the behavioral factors that drive waste generation. Consumer decisions, purchasing habits, food management practices, and communication strategies all influence the amount of food discarded within urban environments. The studies by Li T., et al. and AlAli et al. demonstrate that behavioral interventions-whether through more effective communication in restaurant settings or improved understanding of household consumption patterns-can make meaningful contributions to reducing avoidable food waste. These findings reinforce the importance of complementing technological solutions with behavioral and educational approaches that address waste at its source.
The Research Topic also demonstrates the expanding potential of food waste valorization within the circular bioeconomy. Organic residues generated during food production and processing are increasingly being transformed into high-value products capable of replacing conventional resource-intensive materials. The work of Paredes-Zitacuaro et al. illustrates how grape pomace can be incorporated into biodegradable disposable cutlery while simultaneously evaluating material performance, consumer acceptance, and economic feasibility. Similarly, Fernandez et al. show how calamansi peel waste can be converted into biodegradable microbeads through optimized formulation strategies. These advances are consistent with broader efforts to develop sustainable engineering materials from agricultural residues, including the utilization of banana stem fibers and eggshell waste in composite materials (). These contributions highlight the growing maturity of food waste valorization research by extending beyond laboratory feasibility to consider practical implementation and market relevance.
Waste prevention also depends on improving the efficiency and resilience of food supply chains. Since losses occurring before consumption represent a substantial proportion of total food waste, optimizing logistics and distribution remain a key component of circular food systems. The contribution by Mili and Argoubi demonstrates how stochastic optimization and hybrid genetic algorithms can strengthen the design of perishable agricultural supply chains under multidimensional uncertainty.
Their work illustrates the important role that advanced optimization methods can play in minimizing spoilage, improving operational resilience, and enhancing resource efficiency across increasingly complex food distribution networks.
Complementing these technological and applied studies, Li M., et al. provide a comprehensive synthesis of global household food waste research, revealing important geographical and thematic imbalances that continue to shape the development of the field. Their analysis highlights the concentration of research within relatively few regions while emphasizing the need for greater attention to rapidly urbanizing areas where socioeconomic conditions, governance structures, and waste management systems differ substantially. Addressing these disparities will be essential for developing inclusive and context-sensitive strategies that support circular urban food systems worldwide.
Although the studies presented in this Research Topic investigate different aspects of food waste valorization, they converge on a common conclusion: meaningful progress requires integrated solutions that connect waste prevention, resource recovery, sustainable product development, efficient supply chains, and informed decision-making. Technological advances become more impactful when supported by behavioral change, enabling policies, economic viability, and cross-sector collaboration. This systems perspective reflects the inherently interdisciplinary nature of circular urban food systems and underscores the importance of cooperation among engineers, food scientists, environmental researchers, economists, urban planners, policymakers, and communities.
Looking ahead, the transition toward circular urban food systems will require continued innovation alongside greater emphasis on implementation. Emerging technologies-including artificial intelligence, digital traceability, sensor networks, and advanced data analytics-offer considerable opportunities to improve waste monitoring, collection, forecasting, and decentralized resource recovery. At the same time, future research should increasingly incorporate life-cycle assessment, techno-economic evaluation, and social impact analysis to ensure that proposed solutions are environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially inclusive. Bridging the gap between scientific discovery and real-world application remains one of the field's most important priorities.
Collectively, the contributions to this Research Topic reflect both the breadth and the growing maturity of research on circular urban food systems and urban agriculture. They demonstrate that advancing food waste valorization requires more than isolated technological breakthroughs; it demands integrated approaches that combine scientific innovation, responsible resource management, behavioral change, resilient supply chains, and supportive governance. We hope this Research Topic stimulates further interdisciplinary collaboration, encourages the translation of research into sustainability policy and practical solutions, and contributes to the development of urban food systems in which food waste is increasingly recognized as a valuable resource within a regenerative circular economy rather than as an unavoidable environmental burden.
Statements
Author contributions
AA: Visualization, Resources, Project administration, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Funding acquisition. OB: Writing – review & editing, Investigation, Conceptualization, Validation, Writing – original draft, Resources, Visualization. EM: Software, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Data curation, Project administration. NZ: Writing – original draft, Investigation, Visualization, Project administration, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Methodology.
Conflict of interest
The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The author(s) declared that Generative AI was not used in the creation of this manuscript.
Any alternative text (alt text) provided alongside figures in this article has been generated by Frontiers with the support of artificial intelligence and reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, including review by the authors wherever possible. If you identify any issues, please contact us.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this articler are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
1
BaniO.AgarwalA.HeinrichHeinrich. (2025). Banana stem and chicken eggshells as a filler of polyester composites for particleboard application. Discov. Mater.5:110. doi: 10.1007/s43939-025-00297-5
2
ZimmererK. S.BellM. G.ChirisaI.DuvallC. S.EgererM.HungP. Y.et al. (2021). Grand challenges in urban agriculture: ecological and social approaches to transformative sustainability. Front. Sustain. Food Syst.5:668561. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.668561
Summary
Keywords
circular economy, circular urban food systems, food waste valorization, household food waste, resource recovery, sustainable food supply chains, urban agriculture, waste-to-value
Citation
Agarwal A, Bani O, Misran E and Zainol N (2026) Editorial: Circular urban food systems: innovations in food waste valorization for sustainable cities. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 10:1941448. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1941448
Received
18 July 2026
Revised
27 July 2026
Accepted
27 July 2026
Published
07 August 2026
Volume
10 - 2026
Edited and reviewed by
Karl S. Zimmerer, The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), United States
Updates
Copyright
© 2026 Agarwal, Bani, Misran and Zainol.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Abhishek Agarwal, abhishek.agarwal@taltech.ee
ORCID: Abhishek Agarwal orcid.org/0000-0002-0900-6383; Okta Bani orcid.org/0000-0002-6428-7456; Erni Misran orcid.org/0000-0003-4840-4285; Norazwina Zainol orcid.org/0000-0002-4447-8773
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.