A Research Challenging Vision Concerning Waste of Agricultural Management in a Bio-Based Circular Economy: A Review Article

Abstract

Agricultural waste represents an enormous reservoir of underutilized biomass resources, which may even pose environmental and economic risks. Residual resources of this nature can be transformed into bioenergy and bio-based products through cascading conversion processes, thereby fitting the criteria of a circular economy. Significant challenges are examined through a transdisciplinary lens, with an emphasis on the European context. Due to the seasonality, regionality, and complexity of agricultural residue management chains, environmental and economic repercussions are challenging to quantify. It is discussed how to develop multi-criteria decision support instruments that can be implemented in the earliest phases of research. The technological advancement of Anaerobic Digestion (AD), a highly developed conversion technology, is examined in the context of seasonal and geographical variations in refuse feedstock. Utilizing agricultural byproducts to manufacture high-value compounds is a significant challenge that is examined in this article, with innovative cascading conversion processes that are both eco-efficient and cost-effective (bio-refinery concept) taken into consideration. Furthermore, industrial ecology examines the promotion of businesses based on agricultural residues in order to foster local synergy between various industrial and agricultural value chains. In order to optimize the management of materials and knowledge fluxes and facilitate a holistic approach, the connection of stakeholders to encourage resource exchange and cross-sector collaboration at appropriate geographic scales is discussed.