Lactic acid (LA) is a widely used platform chemical that can be transformed into a multitude of products. The microbial production of LA is been dominated by Lactic acid bacteria (LAB). However, due to its strict and costly media requirements, the economy of the LA production process is still challenging. In the present study, a codon-optimized ldhA gene encoding D-lactic acid (D-LA) from K. pneumoniae was expressed in the Yarrowia lipolytica PO1d strain. After initial optimisation studies, the YDldh strain reached 0.37 (g/g) of D-LA yield and also showed significant acetic acid accumulation. Further, the ACS2 (Acetyl CoA synthase) gene from S. cerevisiae (S288C) encoding acetyl CoA synthase was expressed in the YDldh strain, which increased acetic acid assimilation up to 10 (g/L) and enhanced LA production. Food waste hydrolysate (FWH) was produced by valorising mixed food waste with crude fungal enzymes produced using Aspergillus terreus BPD01. A scale-up study in a 3.3 L bioreactor of YDldh and YDl-Acs strains using two different carbon sources, FWH and glucose, was carried out. The YDl-Acs strain exhibited 0.70 (g/g) of D-LA with 5% glucose in a complex medium. Comparatively, the YDldh strain showed reduced D-LA production in both types of carbon sources. The YDl-Acs strain with FWH showed 0.53 (g/g) of D-lactic acid and supported the idea of utilizing food waste in lactic acid production. FWH can be a promising economic carbon source, and further optimisation could produce the D-LA at a competitive yield.