Waste Valorisation

Waste Streams in a Circular Economy

Carol Sze Ki Lin, Guneet Kaur, Chong Li, Xiaofeng Yang, Carol Sze Ki Lin, Guneet Kaur, Chong Li, Xiaofeng Yang, Christian V. Stevens

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781119502708
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781119502746
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Chemistry
• Index: Chemistry

A guide to the wide-variety of waste valorisation techniques related to various biomass, waste materials and by products

Waste Valorisation provides a comprehensive review of waste chemistry and its application to the generation of value-added products. The authors – noted experts on the topic – offer a clear understanding of waste diversity, drivers and policies governing its valorisation based on the location. The book provides information on the principles behind various valorisation schemes and offers a description of general treatment options with their evaluation guidelines in terms of cost, energy consumption and waste generation.

Each of the book's chapters contain an introduction which summarises the current production and processing methods, yields, energy sources and other pertinent information for each specific type of waste. The authors focus on the most relevant novel technologies for value-added processing of waste streams or industrial by-products which can readily be integrated into current waste management systems. They also provide the pertinent technical, economic, social and environmental evaluations of bioconversions as future sustainable technologies in a biorefinery. This important book:

• Presents the most current technologies which integrate waste and/or by-product valorisation
• Includes discussions on end-product purity and life-cycle assessment challenges
• Explores relevant novel technologies for value-added processing of waste streams or industrial by-products which can be integrated into current waste management systems
• Offers a guide to waste reuse, a key sustainability goal for existing biorefineries wishing to reduce material and environmental costs

Written for academic researchers and industrial scientists working in agricultural and food production, bioconversions and waste management professionals, Waste Valorisation is an authoritative guide to the chemistry and applications of waste materials and provides an overview of the most recent developments in the field.

1
Overview of Waste Valorisation Concepts from a Circular Economy Perspective

Jinhua Mou¹, Chong Li², Xiaofeng Yang³, Guneet Kaur⁴, and Carol Sze Ki Lin¹

¹School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

²Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China

³School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

⁴Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

1.1 Introduction

Petroleum is one of the most important reserves used as a fundamental raw material for various industries. It has been in a predominant position in the world energy consumption structure since the 1970s. Petroleum‐derived products, such as plastics, synthetic fiber, and synthetic rubber, are widely utilized in the agricultural, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors, and have already become necessities in our daily life. Most industries, like the chemical industries and transportation, are heavily dependent upon petroleum and other fossil resources.

However, this fossil‐based economy is facing two serious problems. On one hand, fossil resources are not renewable – they have limited availability on our planet and are running out at a rapid rate. On the other hand, the industrial utilization of fossil resources has already caused many environmental problems, such as greenhouse effects, and air, water, and soil pollution. The serious energy and environmental crisis has aroused global concerns and reflections. The world needs to find substitutes for fossil resources to change the current energy‐intensive and environmentally unfriendly economic model. Therefore, a low‐consumption and high‐value‐added sustainable circular economy system needs to be established. Such a circular economy can replace the linear economy model of “make‐use‐dispose” with a “circular” model, in which the value of resources and products is maintained in the system for a long period. The efficient use of waste or side streams from production processes is another important aspect of a circular economy.

While traditional energy resources, such as petroleum and natural gas, are non‐renewable and will be depleted in the near future, the substitution of emerging resources (energy and materials) and awareness of environmental protection outweigh seeking only economic profits and has become a significant worldwide issue. Besides the utilization of solar energy and wind energy, biomass energy, as an alternative form of energy derived from solar energy, has attracted an increasing amount of attention. Data from the US Energy Information Administration show that the percentage of biomass energy in total energy consumption has increased rapidly in recent years. For instance, in 2016, biomass energy contributed 5.8% to the source of US energy consumption. Biomass energy is a renewable (the only renewable carbon resource), clean (little pollution, low carbon emissions), and abundant resource (Field et al. 2008). It will greatly ease the energy and environment burden if biomass energy could be widely accepted and utilized in industries or in our daily life, and replace fossil resources as the preference in energy consumption. In fact, a global industrial revolution has already begun as the foundations of economic development change from hydrocarbon to carbohydrate, i.e., the transition from a petrol‐based economy to a bio‐based economy, which is a significant trend for sustainable development (Bozell and Petersen 2010) (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 A comparison of petrol‐based and bio‐based economies.

With the rapid development of industries and improvement in living standards, the generation of waste is also increasing, which has already caused many environmental and social problems (Sharholy et al. 2008). Landfill and incineration are the most commonly used methods of waste management at present. However, they are not ideal solutions owing to the damage to the environment and human health. In particular, organic wastes, characterized by putrescibility, low heat value and high organic matter, could become a great threat to public health, because of the emission of toxic gases (e.g., oxole, dioxine) and the transmission of pathogenic micro‐organisms when improperly treated by conventional methods (Polprasert and Koottatep 2017). But “wastes” can be regarded as valuable resources due to the functional components are present within them (Ong et al. 2018). It allows for their transformation into high‐value products rather than being discarded as useless and unwanted. Overall, this provides solutions to both efficient waste management and provision of feedstock for industrially important products, which are fundamental solutions for sustainable development (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Concept of waste valorisation to high‐value products.

Together with increasing demand in both substance and spirit, the world today is facing many problems related to food security, energy consumption, and environmental protection. The development of biomass‐based industries could be one of the great efforts made in order to change this situation. Biorefinery, aimed at sustainable development through utilisation of renewable (and/or waste) resources and integration of high‐efficiency technologies, can play an increasingly important role in achieving a green, circular, and sustainable economy.

In this book, we will take an overview of the development of biochemical processes for the utilization of wastes as a bioresource (Chapters 2 and 3), process integration for waste‐based biorefinery (Chapters 4–7), and closed loop recirculation of waste‐based biorefinery in a bio‐based economy (Chapters 8–10) (Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.3 Book layout.

1.2 Development of (Bio)Chemical Process for Utilization of Waste as a Bioresource

Wastes are often defined as substances that are no longer useful to the holder. The rapid industrial and economic development of recent years has seen a huge amount of waste generated from human activities, which has caused many environmental and social problems. In fact, most of the wastes we are talking about have the potential for further processing and utilization. The main reasons hindering the effective recycling of the wastes are improper handling strategies and inadequate technologies in related industries. Sustainable waste management should be carried out for both environmental and economic benefits.

A waste stream is the flow of a specific waste, referring to the lifecycle from its source to recovery, recycling, or disposal. In general, waste streams are mainly divided into two groups: material‐related streams (e.g., metals, plastics, bio‐waste) and product‐related streams (e.g., e‐waste, construction waste) (Bourguignon 2015). When talking about the biorefinery concept in waste valorisation, it aims to utilize waste as a bioresource, so we are more interested in the organic (or biodegradable) pa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• Series Preface
• Preface
• 1 Overview of Waste Valorisation Concepts from a Circular Economy Perspective
• 2 Waste as a Bioresource
• 3 Treatment of Waste
• 4 Valorisation of Agricultural Waste Residues
• 5 Valorisation of Woody Biomass
• 6 Recovery of Nutrients and Transformations of Municipal/Domestic Food Waste
• 7 Bioconversion of Processing Waste from Agro‐Food Industries to Bioethanol: Creating a Sustainable and Circular Economy
• 8 Challenges with Biomass Waste Valorisation
• 9 Life cycle Approaches for Evaluating Textile Biovalorisation Processes: Sustainable Decision‐making in a Circular Economy
• 10 Circular Waste‐Based Biorefinery Development
• Index
• End User License Agreement