Biotechnology for Zero Waste – Emerging Waste Management Techniques (Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain (editor) etc.)

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Bioconversion of Waste to Wealth as Circular Bioeconomy

Approach

Dayanand Peter, Jaya Rathinam, and Ranganathan T. Vasudevan

Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Department of Food Processing Technology, Karunya Nagar,

Coimbatore, 641114, India

27.1

Introduction

The aim of sustainability in consumption and production is to ensure efficient

and sustainable utilization of resources, energy, and infrastructure. This in turn

brings about sustainable development that aims at reducing costs on economy,

environment, and society while enhancing economic competitiveness and decreas-

ing poverty. Consumption of natural resources during the year 2017 globally has

registered a 254% jump as compared a similar global consumption in 1970. This rate

has been on an exponential growth since 2000 [1].

27.1.1

Circular Economy

Nature is the creator of all matter in an effective manner. Every single material pro-

duced by nature, after its usage, is also effectively disposed by nature. However,

humans, during the course of advancement and development, have failed to

understand and appreciate the basic laws of nature and are paying a heavy price

for it. Ozone layer depletion and pollution are the direct results of humans not

understanding the laws of nature. To overcome this problem, and to develop a

sustainable, economical, and eco-friendly method of waste disposal/recycling,

the concept of “Circular economy,” was proposed in the late 1970s. In contrast to

“linear economy,” which is based on creating, utilizing, and ultimately destroying

the waste, “circular economy” considers that everything can be regenerated and

reused. Therefore, creation is actually a cyclic step before waste regeneration and

not actually the starting point [1].

The most widely acknowledged definition/concept is that by Ellen MacArthur

Foundation and is represented by the “butterfly diagram.” This concept is based on

the “Cradle to cradle^TM,” set by the German chemist, Michael Braungart, along with

American architect, Bill McDonough. This concept considers circular economy

(CE) to comprise of two cycles – (i) the biological cycle and (ii) the technical cycle.

Biotechnology for Zero Waste: Emerging Waste Management Techniques, First Edition.

Edited by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and Ravi Kumar Kadeppagari.