(44c) Establishing a Circular Economy in the Food Industry

With the increase in the generation of waste from the daily operation of society in the production of food, process systems engineering offers the tools to evaluate the optimal management of the residues and the recovery of added value products to develop and
implement a circular economy. We will focus on three types of products, added -value products, utilities and fertilizers. A methodology is presented [1] to identify the product or set of products to recover and applied to various cases of interest such as the coffee [2] , olive oil [1] , wine [3] and orange industries [4] , as well as the production of sweeteners [5] . In addition, we will delve into the production of fertilizers to close the production cycle [6] . The biorefinery problem is extended into the process and product design problems to select the best biomass to produce a product or a set of products. In this way it is expected to improve the economic, environmental, and
social aspects simultaneously. Interesting products are not only produced to improve the economy of plants, such as food supplements from waste, but also with a view to improving the energy efficiency of production plants through the production of essential services for their operation, water vapor and electricity. Thus, highly integrated facilities [7] that using only waste are designed to avoid the use of external chemicals and limit the need for external utilities towards the production of added value products and commodities, creating a circular economy within the process. The concept is extended towards a circular economy for the food industry presenting a case of meat production within Spain. [8]

References:

[1] Guerras, L.; Sengupta, D.; Martín, M., El-Halwagi, M. (2021) Multi-layer approach for product portfolio optimization: Waste to added value products. Acs. Sust. Chem. Eng. 9, 18, 6410–6426

[2] Taifouris, M.; Corazza, M.; Martín, M., (2021) Integrated design of biorefineries based on spent coffee ground Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 60 (1) 494-506

[3]. Taifouris, M., Martín, M (2023) Methodology for estimating a country's production of biomethane from agricultural residues: a multiscale and holistic approach Comp. Aided. Chem Eng. Vol 51 33rd European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering (ESCAPE33), June 18-21, 2023, Athens,Greece Antonis Kokossis, Michael C. Georgiadis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos (Eds.) 2197-2202

[4].- Criado, A., Martín, M., (2020) Integrated multiproduct facility for the production of chemicals, food and utilities from oranges. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 59, 16, 7722-7731

[5] Galán, G.; Martín, M., Grossmann, I.E. (2021) Integrated Renewable Production of Sorbitol and Xylitol from Switchgrass. Ind. Eng. Chem Res. 60,15, 5558-5573

[6] Martín-Hernández, E, Martín, M., Ruiz-Mercado, G.J. (2021) A geospatial environmental and techno-economic framework for sustainable phosphorus management at livestock facilities. Resources. Cons. Recyl. 175 105843

[7] Roldán San Antonio, J.E., Martin, M (2023) Optimal integrated plant for biodegradable polymers production. ACS Sust Chem Eng. 11, 6, 2172–2185 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c05356

[8] Taifouris, M., Martín, M. (2022) Integrating intensive livestock and cropping systems: sustainable design and location. Agri. Systems. 203, 103517