Food agro-industrial by-products mainly include peels, seeds, stems, bagasse, kernels, and husk, derived during food processing. Due to their overproduction and the lack of sustainable management, ...such by-products have been conventionally rejected and wasted in landfills, being the principal strategy for their treatment, but nowadays, this strategy has been associated with several environmental, social and economic issues. Hence, we focused on the use of different consolidated biotechnological processes and methodologies as suitable strategies for food by-products management and valorisation, highlighting them as potential bioresources because they still gather high compositional and nutritional value, owing to their richness in functional and bioactive molecules with human health benefits. Food by-products could be utilised for the development of new food ingredients or products for human consumption, promoting their integral valorisation and reincorporation to the food supply chain within the circular bioeconomy concept, creating revenue streams, business and job opportunities. In this review, the main goal was to provide a general overview of the food agro-industrial by-products utilised throughout the years, improving global sustainability and human nutrition, emphasising the importance of biowaste valorisation as well as the methodologies employed for the recovery of value-added molecules.
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•Food industrial by-products are mostly wasted in landfills causing GHG emissions.•Food by-products should be recognized as resource and not an issue.•Food by-products are highlighted to have value-added bioactive molecules.•Valorisation of food by-products could avoid pollution and economic issues.•Biotechnological methods represent more suitable and eco-friendly processes.
Reducing the environmental pressure along the products life cycle, increasing efficiency in the consumption of resources and use of renewable raw materials, and shifting the economic system toward a ...circular and a climate-neutral model represent the heart of the current macro-trends of the European Union (EU) policy agendas. The circular economy and bioeconomy concepts introduced in the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan and the Bioeconomy Strategy support innovation in rethinking economic systems focusing on market uptaking of greener solutions based on less-intensive resource consumption. In recent decades, industrial research has devoted enormous investments to demonstrate sustainable circular bio-based business models capable of overcoming the “Valley of Death” through alternative strategic orientations of “technological-push” and “market-pull”. The study highlights industrial research’s evolution on bio-based circular business model validation, trends, and topics with particular attention to the empowering capacity of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to close the loops in renewable biological use and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The research methodology involves a bibliographic search based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Data Hub investigation to understand SMEs’ key success factors and start-ups of the circular bioeconomy sector. Eco and bio-based materials, nutraceuticals, and microalgae represent the most sustainable industry applications, leading to circular bioeconomy business models’ future perspective.
•Different methods for biogas generation from biomass were reviewed.•The challenges towards a circular bioeconomy were discussed.•Multiple solutions to overcome the existing challenges were ...offered.•Algae have a great potential for generation of biogas.
In recent years, the growing trend of energy consumption from fossil fuels in the world has faced mankind with two major crises of environmental pollution and the increasing acceleration in the depletion of energy resources, hence the movement towards the provision of clean and renewable energy is placed as one of the main programs and strategy in the world. Biogas is a flammable mixture that is produced by fermentation of organic materials in a certain temperature range and a certain pH in anaerobic conditions by microbes. Fermentation reactions in the biogas device include sets of chemical and biological activities of two groups of acid-producing and methanogenic bacteria in the fermentation chamber, whose growth, survival, and the amount of biogas produced depends on the conditions of the fermentation environment. The produced biogas has a calorific value of 4580 to 5495 kcal/m3 for the degree of purity of 50 % to 65 % methane. This review focuses on recent developments and achievements for biogas generation from biomass towards a circular bioeconomy. Besides, the utilization of artificial intelligence to model the processes leading to the generation of biogas from biomass are highlighted, and finally, the challenges and opportunities of biogas generation from biomass are examined in detail, and solutions are mentioned to motivate researchers in this field.
•Polyhydroxyalkanoates are biopolymers found in microalgae cell.•Novel technologies with additives improve the biopolymer mechanical properties.•Life cycle of biological composting have greenhouse ...gases credits.•Carbon sequestration of 1 kg algae biomass assimilates 1.83 kg atmospheric CO2.•Algae cultivation in photobioreactor does not require arable land.
The accumulation of conventional petroleum-based polymers has increased exponentially over the years. Therefore, algae-based biopolymer has gained interest among researchers as one of the alternative approaches in achieving a sustainable circular economy around the world. The benefits of microalgae biopolymer over other feedstock is its autotrophic complex to reduce the greenhouse gases emission, rapid growing ability with flexibility in diverse environments and its ability to compost that gives greenhouse gas credits. In contrast, this review provides a comprehensive understanding of algae-based biopolymer in the evaluation of microalgae strains, bioplastic characterization and bioplastic blending technologies. The future prospects and challenges on the algae circular bioeconomy which includes the challenges faced in circular economy, issues regard to the scale-up and operating cost of microalgae cultivation and the life cycle assessment on algal-based biopolymer were highlighted. The aim of this review is to provide insights of algae-based biopolymer towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy.
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•Circular bioeconomy is elucidated through sustainable food waste management.•Global situations and policies of food waste management are comprehensively reviewed.•Research prospects ...of food waste management in bioeconomy are discussed.
Research attention is increasingly drawn on constructing a circular bioeconomy and enhancing the value of material flows. Circular bioeconomy aims to achieve sustainable consumption and production with reduction of greenhouse gas emission. This study identifies research gaps on how circular bioeconomy can be achieved through sustainable food waste management by comparing the similarities and differences in concepts of bioeconomy and circular economy, reviewing the benefits and limitations of the existing policies, and evaluating the global situations of food waste and its management on household and commercial basis to promote circular bioeconomy. Future development on food waste management is expected to capitalise on the multi-functionality of products, boundary and allocation in a circular system, and trade-off between food waste and resources. With future technological advances, food waste management in circular bioeconomy policy can facilitate the accomplishment of sustainable development goals.
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Lignin is a remarkable natural polyphenol that provides trees with physical and (bio-)chemical resistance, as well as the ability to reach considerable heights. Lignin is also ...intrinsically circular with slow biodegradability, thereby serving as a carbon source for soils. There is a growing interest in using industrial lignin as an environmentally and economically beneficial material. However, most of the industrially produced lignin is still used as a cost-efficient energy source by the forestry sector. To efficiently redirect the use towards material applications and to avoid the end-of-life problems connected to traditional plastics, there is an imminent need and opportunity to include circularity as an important design parameter. In this review, we critically assess opportunities and obstacles for lignin as a component in circular materials, as guided by life cycle assessment and benchmarking to best practices in materials science and engineering, e.g., circularity “by design”. We cover and reflect on recent and emerging advances in nanotechnology and materials science that showcase how lignin can contribute to carbon fixation as a viable alternative to its combustion in the pulping processes. We argue that, with adequate considerations, lignin has the potential to enable the development of new circular biobased materials that do not cause accumulation of environmentally persistent waste, and are equipped with attractive functionalities and performance for the benefit of a sustainable society.
Sustainable energy transition has brought the attention towards microalgae utilization as potential feedstock due to its tremendous capabilities over its predecessors for generating more energy with ...reduced carbon footprint. However, the commercialization of microalgae feedstock remains debatable due to the various factors and considerations taken into scaling-up the conventional microalgal upstream processes. This review provides a state-of-the-art assessment over the recent developments of available and existing microalgal upstream cultivation systems catered for maximum biomass production. The key growth parameters and main cultivation modes necessary for optimized microalgal growth conditions along with the fundamental aspects were also reviewed and evaluated comprehensively. In addition, the advancements and strategies towards potential scale-up of the microalgal cultivation technologies were highlighted to provide insights for further development into the upstream processes aimed at sustainable circular bioeconomy.
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•Open and closed bioreactor systems for microalgae upstream cultivation are reviewed.•Physicochemical growth parameters for optimum microalgal growth are discussed.•Mixotrophic hybrid metabolism triggered higher biomass growth and lipid production.•Technical aspects and strategies toward microalgal commercialization are addressed.
Municipal solid waste management is one of the major issues throughout the world. Inappropriate management of municipal solid waste (MSW) can pose a major hazard. Anaerobic processing of MSW followed ...by methane and biogas generation is one of the numerous sustainable energy source options. Compared with other technologies applicable for the treatment of MSW, factors like economic aspects, energy savings, and ecological advantages make anaerobic processing an attractive choice. This review discusses the framework for evaluating conversion of municipal solid waste to energy and waste derived bioeconomy in order to address the sustainable development goals. Further, this review will provide an innovative work foundation to improve the accuracy of structuring, quality control, and pre-treatment for the ideal treatment of different segments of MSW to achieve a sustainable circular bioeconomy. The increasing advancements in three essential conversion pathways, in particular the thermochemical, biochemical, and physiochemical conversion methods, are assessed. Generation of wastes should be limited and resource utilization must be minimised to make total progress in a circular bioeconomy.
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•Municipal solid waste can be used for production of various valuable products.•Organic waste is a potential bio refinery and bio-economy choice.•Anaerobic digestion process can be used as an approach to advance circular economy.•Sustainable development can be achieved by using municipal solid waste as a feedstock.
•Availability and refining potential of industrial & food supply chain side streams.•Sustainability assessment for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers.•End-of-Life options towards the ...development of circular bio-based processes.•Techno-economic analysis of bio-based succinic acid production.
The sustainable production of bio-based chemicals and polymers is highly dependent on the development of viable biorefinery concepts using crude renewable resources for the production of diversified products. Within this concept, this critical review presents the availability of fractionated co-products and fermentable sugars that could be derived from major industrial and food supply chain side streams in EU countries. Fermentable sugars could be used for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers. The implementation of biorefinery concepts in industry should depend on the evaluation of process efficiency and sustainability including techno-economic, environmental and social impact assessment following circular bioeconomy principles. Relevant sustainability indicators and End-of-Life scenarios have been presented. A case study on the techno-economic evaluation of bio-based succinic acid production from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste has been presented focusing on the evaluation of process profitability and feedstock requirements.
The fossil fuel utilization adversely affected the environmental health due to the rising emission levels of greenhouse gases. Consequently, the challenges of climate change loaded great stress on ...renewable energy sources. It is noted that extreme consumption of fossil fuels increased the earth temperature by 1.9 °C that adversely influenced the life and biodiversity. Biorefinery is the sustainable process for the production of biofuels and other bio-products from biomass feedstock using different conversion technologies. Biofuel is an important component of renewable energy sources contributing to overall carbon-neutral energy system. Studies reported that on global scale, over 90% of petroleum goods could be produced from renewable resources by 2023, whereas, 33% chemicals, and 50% of the pharmaceutical market share is also expected to be bio-based. This study details the brief review of operation, development, application, limitations, future perspectives, circular bioeconomy, and life cycle assessment of biorefinery. The economic and environmental aspects of biofuels and biorefineries are briefly discussed. Lastly, considering the present challenges, the future perspectives of biofuels and biorefineries are highlighted.
•The first, second, third and fourth generation biofuel production.•Circular bioeconomy of biorefineries.•Life-cycle assessment of biorefineries.•Environmental and economic aspects of biorefineries.•Current challenges and potential areas for advancements.
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