Prospective life cycle assessment of a based orange wax fungicide

• Published in: Industrial crops and products 2022-06, Vol.180, p.114769, Article 114769
• Main Authors: García-Cruz, A., Díaz-Jiménez, L., Ilyina, A., Carlos-Hernández, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circular economy; Environmental impact; Orange processing; Waste revalorization
• ISSN: 0926-6690; 1872-633X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.114769

The fungicide formulation has been identified as an alternative to revalorize the wax waste generated in producing orange (Citrus sinensis L.) essential oils. This study is to identify opportunity areas in the scaling up of the fungicide production process through a prospective life cycle assessment. Data from lab experiments were scaled up to a pilot plant considering as functional unit “the production of 1 m3 of fungicide”. The orange waste wax (OWW) dilution and the fungicide formulation were considered the main stages of the studied process; two management scenarios for insoluble wax were considered: the disposal in landfills and the transesterification for biodiesel production. The calculation of potential environmental impacts was performed using the software OpenLCA v.1.10.3 considering the database ELCD v. 4.2. and the method CML (baseline). The obtained results show that the extraction medium of the active ingredients, the fungicide package, and energy contributed the most to the potential environmental impacts of the fungicide production process. Improving these elements allow to reduce the potential environmental impacts around 3%, 24%, and 86%, respectively. Moreover, the transesterification of insoluble wax produced few benefits to the global process since the current biodiesel yield is low. It is concluded that from an environmental viewpoint, fungicide production is a feasible alternative for the OWW revalorization. •Life cycle assessment is useful to study the scaling up of new products development.•Based orange waste wax fungicide is feasible from an environmental viewpoint.•Maltose could be an alternative to extract active components from orange waste wax.•Recycled plastic in container and solar energy improve the environmental profile of based orange waste wax fungicide.•Biodiesel production from insoluble wax requires improvement to be a waste management alternative.