Insights into waste management in agroecosystems

Authors: BERNAL, MARIA - Spanish National Research Council; Vanotti, Matias

Submitted to: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/13/2023
Publication Date: 3/27/2023
Citation: Bernal, M.P., Vanotti, M.B. 2023. Insights into waste management in agroecosystems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 7. Article 1176007. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1176007.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1176007

Interpretive Summary: The world is immersed in a change of the economic paradigm from the linear economy of a take-make-consume and dispose pattern to a circular model. In the circular economy, the value of all types of resources should be maintained for as long as possible, without harming the environment. The waste material from one sector becomes the source material for another sector with minimum waste production, moving towards zero waste. The idea is to reduce the extraction of natural resources of finite nature and avoid the production of waste. A circular economy shall reduce the total amount of primary resource inputs, thereby mitigating environmental impacts and pressures associated with resource extraction, by making greater use of those resources within the economy. This new system requires the development of new processes and technologies to extract the value of the wastes and to produce new products without the need for natural sources. The wastes are the key point for the reuse-recycle-repair sector to ensure the circular model. Through the bio-based economy (or Bioeconomy) the organic wastes or by-products are the renewable biological resources for their conversion into food, feed, energy, chemicals, and other materials. The Research Topic “Insights into Waste Management in Agroecosystems” aims to highlight the latest advancements in research across the field of waste management in agroecosystems. This editorial initiative is focused on new insights, novel developments, current challenges, latest discoveries, recent advances, and future perspectives in the field of Waste Management in Agroecosystems.

Technical Abstract: The world is immersed in a change of the economic paradigm from the linear economy of a take-make-consume and dispose pattern to a circular model. In the circular economy, the value of all types of resources should be maintained for as long as possible, without harming the environment. The waste material from one sector becomes the source material for another sector with minimum waste production, moving towards zero waste. The idea is to reduce the extraction of natural resources of finite nature and avoid the production of waste. A circular economy shall reduce the total amount of primary resource inputs, thereby mitigating environmental impacts and pressures associated with resource extraction, by making greater use of those resources within the economy. This new system requires the development of new processes and technologies to extract the value of the wastes and to produce new products without the need for natural sources. The wastes are the key point for the reuse-recycle-repair sector to ensure the circular model. Through the bio-based economy (or Bioeconomy) the organic wastes or by-products are the renewable biological resources for their conversion into food, feed, energy, chemicals, and other materials. The Research Topic “Insights into Waste Management in Agroecosystems” aims to highlight the latest advancements in research across the field of waste management in agroecosystems. This editorial initiative is focused on new insights, novel developments, current challenges, latest discoveries, recent advances, and future perspectives in the field of Waste Management in Agroecosystems.