Agriculture and industry are the two most important economic sectors for various countries around the globe, providing millions of jobs as well as being the main source of income for these countries. Nevertheless, with the increasing demand for agricultural and industrial produce, huge amounts of waste are also being produced. Without proper management, this waste (both liquid and solid) poses a serious threat to overall environmental quality, mainly due to its toxicity and slow degradation processes. Current approaches are effective but would normally require huge capital investments, are labour intensive and generate potential hazardous by-products. As such, there is a need for alternative approaches that are cheaper, easier-to-handle and have a minimum potential impact on environmental quality. This book presents up-to-date approaches using biological techniques to manage the abundance of waste generated from agricultural and industrial activities. It discusses techniques such as bioconversion, biodegradation, biotransformation, and biomonitoring as well as the utilization of these wastes. A number of chapters also include individual case studies to enhance readers’ understanding of the topics. This comprehensive book is a useful resource for anyone involved in agricultural and industrial waste management, green chemistry or biotechnology. It is also recommended as a reference work for graduate students and all agriculture and biotechnology libraries.

Agriculture and industry are the two most important economic sectors for various countries around the globe, providing millions of jobs as well as being the main source of income for these countries. Nevertheless, with the increasing demand for agricultural and industrial produce, huge amounts of waste are also being produced. Without proper management, this waste (both liquid and solid) poses a serious threat to overall environmental quality, mainly due to its toxicity and slow degradation processes. Current approaches are effective but would normally require huge capital investments, are labour intensive and generate potential hazardous by-products. As such, there is a need for alternative approaches that are cheaper, easier-to-handle and have a minimum potential impact on environmental quality. This book presents up-to-date approaches using biological techniques to manage the abundance of waste generated from agricultural and industrial activities. It discusses techniques such as bioconversion, biodegradation, biotransformation, and biomonitoring as well as the utilization of these wastes. A number of chapters also include individual case studies to enhance readers' understanding of the topics. This comprehensive book is a useful resource for anyone involved in agricultural and industrial waste management, green chemistry or biotechnology. It is also recommended as a reference work for graduate students and all agriculture and biotechnology libraries.

The world’s population is expected to reach the eight billion mark very soon. As a result, there is a need for increased industrial and agricultural production to ensure human wellbeing. This in turn generates huge amounts of waste. Current waste treatment solutions are effective, but usually require huge capital investment, are labour intensive and potentially lead to hazardous by-products. This book presents the latest non-biological approaches to address issues related to the abundance of waste, offering insights into best practices in various regions around the globe. It highlights techniques such as chemical extraction, pyrolysis and ultrasonics, and a number of chapters include individual case studies to further enhance readers’ understanding. This comprehensive reference resource is intended for graduate students, researchers and scientists, and is also a valuable addition to all agriculture and biotechnology libraries.

This book explores the concept and methods of waste management with a new approach of biological valorization. Waste valorization is a process that aims to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste into usable, value-added, and environmental benign raw materials which can be a source of energy. The book brings together comprehensive information to assert that waste can be converted into a resource or a raw material for value addition. Waste valorization imbibes the natural recycling principles of zero waste, loop closing, and underlines the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. Drawing upon research and examples from around the world, the book is offering an up-to-date account, and insight into the contours of waste valorization principles, biovalorization technologies for diverse group of wastes including agricultural, municipal, and industrial waste. It further discusses the emerging paradigms of waste valorization, waste biorefineries, valorization technologies for energy, biofuel, and biochemical production. The book meets the growing global needs for a comprehensive and holistic outlook on waste management. It is of interest to teachers, researchers, scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also, the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of biotechnology and environmental sciences.

AGRO-WASTE DERIVED BIOPOLYMERS AND BIOCOMPOSITES This comprehensive book describes the fundamental principles and major advancements in the utilization of agro-waste for deriving biopolymers, and their applications to fabricate composite, nanocomposite, and hybrid food packaging films and coatings. The book serves as a complete, systematic, comprehensive account of the contemporary developments in the area of novel and environment-friendly valorization of agro- and food wastes into value-added products like biodegradable polymer and active functional agents for food packaging applications. It also describes the hurdles and challenges in the commercialization of these novel biopolymer-based materials, including their composites, their applications, safety, and legal ramifications. This book consists of fifteen chapters covering different aspects of agro- and food waste utilization, the development of biodegradable polymers, and their composites for sustainable food packaging applications. The first thirteen chapters detail the processing of various agro- and food wastes of plant and animal origin to synthesize different biopolymers, such as starch, cellulose, chitosan, silk proteins, pectin, etc., and their applications for the fabrication of sustainable food packaging materials and composites that are attractive alternatives to synthetic plastic packaging. These chapters also summarize the effectiveness of these biopolymers and their composites in developing active films and edible coatings for shelf-life extension and preservation of perishable foods. A chapter is devoted to issues of biodegradability, including analyses of various biodegradation reactions, such as depolymerization, mineralization, biochemical, and abiotic degradation both in soil and aquatic environments. The book concludes with a chapter addressing the concerns associated with the possible migration of components or additives from these biodegradable packaging into packaged food items. Audience The primary audience for this book is researchers, scientists, and engineers working in food science and technology, food engineering and technology, food biotechnology, sustainable food packaging, etc. Additionally, food entrepreneurs and associated businesses, such as the packaging and coatings industries, will also have a keen interest in the book.

This edited book provides a comprehensive review of the current agricultural waste disposal techniques focusing on the ongoing research in the production of various agro waste-derived value-added products. Further topic includes the techno-economic aspects in up-scaling the technology from lab scale to commercial/pilot scale. Sustainable waste management and alternative renewable energy sources are the most important requirements in this era of rapid industrialization and urbanization. Agricultural waste, which is one of the major contributors to overall waste production, has the ability to be an essential source of renewable energy and other valuable products. The ongoing research and technical advancements in agro-waste treatment lead to the efficient conversion of waste into different value-added products. This book is of primary interest to academicians, researchers, scientists and engineers working in the field of agro-residue management, and biomass to bio-energy conversion technologies. Also, the book serves as reading material for students of Environmental Engineering/Civil and Environmental Engineering and Agricultural Engineering. Rural Management authorities, Industrial and Government policy-making agencies may also find it useful read.