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Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy

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A special issue of Resources (ISSN 2079-9276).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 August 2022) | Viewed by 32640

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Elena Tamburini

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Guest Editor

Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Interests: microbial ecology; bioprocesses for circular economy; sustainability and environmental impacts; life cycle thinking; agro-food waste valorization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The take–make–dispose model promoted by the linear economy has shown its unsustainability over the last few decades, causing resource depletion, food losses and waste generation. In particular, the agricultural and agro-industrial sector has been severely affected by such problems, exacerbated by global warming, unexpected weather phenomena and biodiversity loss. The circular bioeconomy paradigm, as a part of the wider circular economy concept, has been raising attention as one of the most challenging issues for mitigating the pressure on natural resources availability through the development of sustainable organic waste and agricultural biomass management. Waste valorization and reuse are key issues for encouraging the circular bioeconomy perspective for a sustainable present and future. Biomass and biowaste represent the principal sources of renewable carbon and the most promising alternative to fossil-based bulk and fine chemical industries. Agricultural and agro-industrial waste streams are potential feedstocks for a wide range of bioproducts ranging from the production of building blocks, to food, bioplastics or biobased plastics, biofuels, electricity and heat. This Special Issue aims to collect the latest experiences and research in the prospect of bioeconomy at international level, with particular attention to resources savings and sustainability.

Dr. Elena Tamburini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Resources is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

agricultural waste
agro-industrial waste
biomass
residues
biorefinery
bioeconomy
resources
sustainability

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 13465 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modelling of Burnt Pine Heartwood Acid-Catalysed Liquefaction

by Sila Ozkan, Diogo Gonçalves, Ivo Paulo, Carla S. G. P. Queirós, Ana Carvalho, Jaime Puna, João Gomes, João Bordado and Rui Galhano dos Santos

Resources 2023, 12(1), 11; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources12010011 - 06 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1812

Abstract

This study focused on bio-oil production by thermochemical liquefaction. For the reaction, the burnt pine heartwood was used as feedstock material, 2-Ethylhexanol (2-EHEX) was used as a solvent, p-Toluenesulfonic acid (pTSA) was used as a catalyst, and the solvent for washing was acetone. The procedure consisted of a moderate-acid-catalysed liquefaction process, and it was applied at three different temperatures, 120, 140, and 160 °C, and at 30, 105, and 180 min periods with 1%, 5.5%, and 10% (m/m) catalyst concentration of overall mass. Optimal results showed a bio-oil yield of 86.03% and a higher heating value (HHV) of 36.41 MJ/kg, which was 1.96 times more than the HHV of the burnt pine heartwood. A reaction surface methodology (Box–Behnken design) was performed for the liquefaction reaction optimisation. Reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst concentration were chosen as independent variables. The obtained model showed good results with a high adjusted R-squared (0.988) and an excellent p-value (less than 0.001). The liquefied products were characterised by Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and also Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out to validate the impact of the morphological changes on the surface area of the solid samples. This study shows an excellent opportunity to validate a method to upcycle woody wastes via acid-catalysed liquefaction. In particular, this approach is of great interest to produce bio-oil with a good yield, recovering part of the values lost during wildfires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy)

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18 pages, 6876 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implementation of Circular Business Models for Olive Oil Waste and By-Product Valorization

by Mechthild Donner, Ivana Radić, Yamna Erraach and Fatima El Hadad-Gauthier

Resources 2022, 11(7), 68; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources11070068 - 20 Jul 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3803

Abstract

Mediterranean olive oil producers have multiple incentives for adopting circular business models and better resource management, facing water scarcity and huge amounts of waste, but also seeing new opportunities for value creation. This article aimed to understand how circular business models valorizing olive oil waste and by-products are implemented. Ten business cases from six Mediterranean countries were studied, mainly based on semi-structured interviews with enterprise managers. Data were analyzed according to the business model canvas elements, success factors, and barriers while considering the institutional context. The results highlight the diversity of activities, types of resources used, and partnerships and products offered in different market segments. The principles of biowaste conversion and circularity, such as cascading, upcycling, recycling, and recovering, are all applied. The key success factors comprise an environmental concern, knowledge about biotechnologies, markets and logistics, a long-term commitment to the sector, local availability of resources, legislation, subsidies, and product acceptance by consumers. The main barriers include a lack of specific public financial support, an insufficient knowledge transfer from research to olive oil producers, and a lack of articulation of needs for research by the enterprises. More public-private collaborations and multi-stakeholder projects are needed for further shifting to a circular economy in the olive oil sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy)

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19 pages, 4512 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bacterial Nanocellulose Derived from Banana Leaf Extract: Yield and Variation Factors

by Manuel Fiallos-Cárdenas, Angel D. Ramirez, Simón Pérez-Martínez, Hugo Romero Bonilla, Marco Ordoñez-Viñan, Omar Ruiz-Barzola and Miguel A. Reinoso

Resources 2021, 10(12), 121; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources10120121 - 27 Nov 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 10730

Abstract

Bananas are one of the most important crops worldwide. However, a large amount of residual lignocellulosic biomass is generated during its production and is currently undervalued. These residues have the potential to be used as feedstock in bio-based processes with a biorefinery approach. This work is based on the valorization of banana leaf and has the following objectives (i) to determine the effect of certain physical and environmental factors on the concentration of glucose present in banana leaf extract (BLE), using a statistical regression model; (ii) to obtain Bacterial Nanocellulose (BNC), using BLE (70% v/v) and kombucha tea as fermentation medium. In addition, the physicochemical properties of BNC were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results indicate that storage time, location, leaf color, and petiole type are factors related to BLE concentration, which is reduced by approximately 28.82% and 64.32% during storage times of five days. Regarding BNC biosynthesis, the results indicate that the highest yield, 0.031 g/g, was obtained at 21 days. Furthermore, it was determined that the highest production rate was 0.11 gL⁻¹h⁻¹ at 11 days of fermentation. By FTIR, it was determined that the purification step with NaOH (3M) should be carried out for approximately two hours. This research supports the development of a circular bioeconomy around the banana value chain, as it presents a way of bioprocessing residual biomass that can be used to produce bioproducts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy)

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Review

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21 pages, 1885 KiB

Open AccessReview

Valorizations of Marigold Waste for High-Value Products and Their Industrial Importance: A Comprehensive Review

by Ajeet Singh Chauhan, Chiu-Wen Chen, Reeta Rani Singhania, Mansi Tiwari, Rijuta Ganesh Sartale, Cheng-Di Dong and Anil Kumar Patel

Resources 2022, 11(10), 91; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources11100091 - 03 Oct 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7809

Abstract

The municipal authorities in developing nations face serious challenges in marigold flower garbage management. The primary issue is that they never are reused after prayers. Flower waste of Tagetes erecta, T. patula, and Calendula officinalis L. are commonly used for carotenoid and flavonoid extractions and, subsequently, used for incense stick and biogas production. Marigold plants are also used for phytoremediation during their growth stage. The lutein industry is booming due to its increasing market demand, expected to reach ~2121.2 billion tons by 2022, where marigolds are a major contributor globally. The process of isolating lutein from saponified marigold oleoresin yields a product with 70–85% purity. Lutein is a major xanthophyll (70–88%) of marigold petals, and a maximum of 21.23 mg/g of lutein was extracted. This review discusses the properties of selective marigold species, their compositions, and the extraction of different flavonoids and carotenoids, especially lutein. Moreover, different extraction methods of marigold lutein, the collection of marigold waste, and their subsequent utilization to derive several value-added products are discussed. Among physical treatments, ultrasonic-assisted extraction and enzymatic treatment with 5% solids loading were the maximum-yielding methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy)

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16 pages, 1340 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Trends and Opportunities of Bivalve Shells’ Waste Valorization in a Prospect of Circular Blue Bioeconomy

by Daniela Summa, Mattia Lanzoni, Giuseppe Castaldelli, Elisa Anna Fano and Elena Tamburini

Resources 2022, 11(5), 48; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/resources11050048 - 13 May 2022

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 7316

Abstract

Bivalves aquaculture is already considered a very sustainable for of food production and might become an essential pillar on which to develop future global food security. However, with the increase in production, a correspondingly great amount of waste will be produced all around the earth, principally in the form of shells, which can represent up to 90% of the fresh mollusk weight. Nowadays, shell waste has no notable use and is commonly regarded as waste, often dumped in landfill, or thrown back into the sea, causing a significant level of environmental concern, and resulting in a loss of natural and valuable resources. Bivalve shells are mainly formed by CaCO₃, giving them the potential to become a promising secondary raw material for several applications, from a circular economy perspective. This paper aims to review the scientific literature of the last twenty years and the principal recent trends in shell waste reuse, describing applications that are already in place on a large scale in agriculture and livestock, soils, water and wastewater remediation, biodiesel production and biofilters, as well as niche applications that now simply have the potential to be scaled up. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization/Reuse of Agricultural or Agro-Industrial Waste in a Prospect of Circular Bioeconomy)

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