Year: 2025 | Month: December | Volume: 12 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 417-430
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20251246
Agro-Industrial and Food Waste in the Circular Bioeconomy: Emerging Biorefineries, High-Value Bioproducts and System-Level Innovations
Nasruddin1, Hasim,2 Mahludin Baruadi3, Weny J. A Musa4
1Doctoral Program in Environmental Science, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia
2,3,4Postgraduate Program, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia
Corresponding Author: Nasruddin
ABSTRACT
The rapid growth of agro-food and bioresource industries has intensified pressure on waste management infrastructures while simultaneously creating a vast, underutilised reservoir of organic, inorganic and mixed solid residues. Contemporary circular bioeconomy strategies increasingly reconceptualise these wastes as feedstocks for biorefineries that co-produce bioenergy, bio-based materials, high-value chemicals and environmental services. Building on earlier literature, this review integrates recent advances from 2023–2026 in microbial bioprocessing, thermochemical conversion, bioleaching, biopolymer and biosurfactant production, and circular supply chains for agro-industrial and food waste. Microbial routes now valorise residues into bio-enzymes, organic acids, hyaluronic acid, bioplastics, biosurfactants and biofertilisers, supported by process-intensified extractive technologies, novel solvents and non-sterile solid-state bioprocessing. Thermochemical pathways, including pyrolysis and gasification, are increasingly guided by computational fluid dynamics and feedstock-aware control strategies. Waste-derived functional materials, such as bioactive extracts for food, cosmetic and biomedical applications, and bio-based packaging from by-products, are progressing toward commercialisation. At the system level, digitalised reverse logistics, circular supply-chain optimisation, open innovation in SMEs, and supportive policy instruments (e.g., biofuel replanting schemes) are beginning to operationalise circularity at scale. Across these domains, we critically examine techno-economic feasibility, environmental performance, health and safety risks (including bioaerosols and pathogens), and social implications such as poverty reduction and regional economic development. Remaining challenges include feedstock heterogeneity, regulatory uncertainty, scale-up risks, and integrating bioproduct portfolios with market demand. We conclude with a research agenda for multi-product, digitally enabled, and regionally adapted biorefineries that treat agro-industrial and food waste as strategic resources rather than liabilities.
Keywords: circular bioeconomy; agro-industrial waste; waste valorisation; biorefinery; bio-based products; sustainable bioprocessing; organic waste management
[PDF Full Text]