Plants by-products and fibres industrial exploitation

Food processing industries are aware that waste and by-products offer new market opportunities. Researches address the issue of plant (fruit and vegetable) wastes and by-products by taking a comprehensive approach looking for sustainable processes to turn food processing by-products and non-food plant fibres into valuable industrial products (fabrics and textiles, leather, elements for the automotive and building industry, cases for electronics products or household appliances, composites, bio-resins for plastic materials, lightweight structural composites based on bio-based polymers, reinforced with cellulose pulp fibres). There are many additional applications for plant wastes, including the use of wood fibres to produce lower carbon, energy efficient construction materials with anti-seismic properties, or the use of bio-based and biodegradable agricultural mulch films for improving agricultural productivity. The bioeconomy must take into account the balance of industrial use of biomass resources for multiple uses including food, feed, chemicals, fibres and fuels. To achieve this, the concepts of smart and sustainable use of biomass should be applied. In this chapter, several type of plant byproducts are discussed, and case studies of companies exploiting new production lines for textiles, light-weighted insulating components, and bio-based biochemicals are presented. A SWOT analysis of the most significant products is presented.