Abstract
The efficient use of agricultural wastes and by-products, which essentially transforms waste materials into value-added products, is considered as pivotal for an effective bioeconomy strategy for the rural development. Within this scope, citrus waste management represents a major issue for citrus processors. However, it also represents a potentially unexploited resource for rural sustainable development. This study focuses on analyzing the current management of citrus waste in South Italy, and on identifying the determinants and barriers that may affect an entrepreneur’s choice in the destination of citrus waste. This study investigates the preferences of citrus processors regarding the contract characteristics necessary to take part in a co-investment scheme. Both analyses are preliminary steps in designing an innovative and sustainable citrus by-product supply chain. Results show that the distance between the citrus processors and the citrus by-products plant is one of the main criteria for choosing alternative valorization pathways. Moreover, guaranteed capital, a short duration of the contract, and reduced risk are contract scheme characteristics that improve entrepreneurs’ willingness to co-invest in the development of a citrus waste multifunctional plant. The overall applied approach can be extended to other contexts for designing new and innovative by-product supply chains, thereby enhancing the implementation of bioeconomy strategies.
Highlights
The increasing awareness concerning more sustainable uses of natural resources and the shift to a resource-efficient economy [1,2,3,4,5] are stimulating policy initiatives and institutional processes towards the development of bioeconomy strategies [6]
This study investigates the preferences of citrus processors regarding the contract characteristics necessary to take part in a co-investment scheme
The overall applied approach can be extended to other contexts for designing new and innovative by-product supply chains, thereby enhancing the implementation of bioeconomy strategies
Summary
The increasing awareness concerning more sustainable uses of natural resources and the shift to a resource-efficient economy [1,2,3,4,5] are stimulating policy initiatives and institutional processes towards the development of bioeconomy strategies [6]. The adoption of a bioeconomy strategy—transforming waste and/or by-products into value-added products—falls into this challenge, as it requires a complex process of organization among stakeholders. Recent studies have analyzed the development of novel value chains for promoting biomass valorization, highlighting several implementation challenges [58,59,60,61,62,63]. Carraresi and colleagues [58] highlighted that to create value through by-products valorization, companies should re-design their business models by enhancing the adoption of technological innovations. New business models need to be based on networking among actors This is based on the principle that coordination along a value chain is deemed to reduce the uncertainty about economic investments
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