Abstract
The agriculture sector produces significant amounts of organic residues and the choice of the management strategy of these flows affects the environmental sustainability of the sector. The scientific literature is rich with innovative processes for the production of bio-based products (BBP) from agriculture residues, aimed at the implementation of circular economy principles. Based on literature data, the present paper performed a life cycle assessment and assessed the environmental sustainability of five processes for the exploitation of rice and wheat straw, tomato pomace, and orange peel. The analysis identified as significant issues the high energy demand and the use of high impact organic solvent. The comparison of BBP with conventional products showed higher environmental loads for the innovative processes that used organic residues (except for rice straw case). The obtained results do not want to discourage the circular strategy in the agriculture sector, but rather to draw the attention of all stakeholders to the environmental sustainability aspects, focusing on the necessity to decrease the electricity demand and identify ecological agents to use in BBP manufacturing, in agreement with the most recent European policies.
Highlights
The circular economy represents one of the main pillars that drive the choices of countries, all over the world, towards a sustainable development
The life cycle assessment (LCA) of five case studies highlighted some significant issues due to both the significant energy demand and the high impact organic solvents, despite the reduced organic agent demand assumed for the upscaling
The obtained results had not the target to discourage the development of alternatives for the agriculture residue enhancement, but rather to draw the attention to the environmental sustainability aspects
Summary
Due to the world population growth in the current century, food demand has increased worldwide and the residues that food production generates too [4]. This biomass can reach huge quantities and sometimes its disposal might create environmental or health issues. For this reason, a further exploitation can be pursued to reduce these negative effects and enhance the underused potential; in this context, the bio-based products (BBP) can be a viable option [5]
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