Integrated Biorefinery: High Value-Added Products from Agro-Industrial Residues

Every year, the anthropic activities generate thousands of tonnes of agro-industrial residues, which create serious disposal problems and have a very important economic and environmental impact. At this time, the most popular way of their disposing is degradation by biological and/or biochemical and/or thermal treatments; however, they often contain significant percentages of useful compounds that can be extracted and used in several sectors, thus representing an opportunity to be exploited through the development of eco-compatible/sustainable technologies with low environmental impact.

An integrated biorefinery process through which more outputs can be generated from a same waste, such as bioactive molecules, biomaterials and biofuels, represents a promising solution.