Actions to minimize industrial waste can contribute not only to the reduction of environmental impact but also to the conversion of polluting wastes into new sources of income. The valorization of raw materials and consideration of the different regional cultures of production units represent the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. There are countless studies on models for decision-making in industrial waste minimization. However, especially in agriculture and agroindustry, where there is high consumption of water and many raw materials are not yet fully valorized, actions need to be differentiated using accessible models and technologies compatible with the different processes carried out at their respective scales. An example of the diversity of scales and processes is seen in the food industry, which includes a range of small-, median-, and large-sized industries. Environmental care coexists on all the different scales; however, models for waste minimization must be compatible despite these differences. In this work, several historical examples of modeling for waste minimization are presented.
