Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Education, University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, Philippines
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Education, University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, Philippines; Center for Natural Drug Discovery and Development (CND3), University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, Philippines; Balik Scientist Program, Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology, Taguig, Philippines
  • 4 Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117581, Singapore
  • 5 Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Malaysian Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals, National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia, 11700, Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: kesaven@umt.edu.my
Environ Pollut, 2021 Feb 15;271:116311.
PMID: 33383425 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116311

Abstract

Global increase in demand for food supply has resulted in surplus generation of wastes. What was once considered wastes, has now become a resource. Studies were carried out on the conversion of biowastes into wealth using methods such as extraction, incineration and microbial intervention. Agro-industry biowastes are promising sources of carbon for microbial fermentation to be transformed into value-added products. In the era of circular economy, the goal is to establish an economic system which aims to eliminate waste and ensure continual use of resources in a close-loop cycle. Biowaste collection is technically and economically practicable, hence it serves as a renewable carbon feedstock. Biowastes are commonly biotransformed into value-added materials such as bioethanol, bioplastics, biofuels, biohydrogen, biobutanol and biogas. This review reveals the recent developments on microbial transformation of biowastes into biotechnologically important products. This approach addresses measures taken globally to valorize waste to achieve low carbon economy. The sustainable use of these renewable resources is a positive approach towards waste management and promoting circular economy.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.