Solid-state fermentation of food waste by A. awamori and A. oryzae can be successfully used to process food waste for the production of nutrients-rich hydrolysate. The highest glucose (36.9 g/L) and FAN (361.3 mg/L) concentration were obtained at food waste mass ratio of 10%. Food waste hydrolysate was subsequently used as substrate for fermentative hydrogen production by heat pretreated sludge. The best hydrogen yield of 39.14 ml H2/g food waste (219.91 ml H2/VSadded) was achieved at food waste mass ratio of 4%. The proposed process could be potentially utilized to transform food waste into hydrogen production for large scale