Circular Economy Indicators for the Assessment of Waste and By-Products from the Palm Oil Sector

• Published in: Processes 2022-05, Vol.10 (5), p.903
• Main Authors: Bejarano, Pedro-Antonio Cárdenas, Rodriguez-Miranda, Juan-Pablo, Maldonado-Astudillo, Rayma Ireri, Maldonado-Astudillo, Yanik Ixchel, Salazar, Ricardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: By products; Byproducts; Carbon dioxide; Carbon footprint; Circular economy; Effluents; Emissions; Externality; Indicators; Industrial wastes; Keywords; Palm oil; Petroleum industry; Reduction; Residues; Sustainable development; Trends; Valuation; Vegetable oils
• ISSN: 2227-9717; 2227-9717
• DOI: 10.3390/pr10050903

A circular economy (CE) promotes the reuse, reincorporation and valuation of waste and by-products under the framework of sustainable development through models and indicators that evaluate scenarios of second use and reduction in non-incorporated outputs to reduce negative externalities and pressures on the dimensions of development. A CE model applied to the transformation process of RFF in agro-industries is developed, which consists in the identification of the residue coefficients of EFB (22.48% ± 0.8), fiber (15.58% ± 0.49), husk (6.03% ± 0.66) and ash (0.55% ± 1.67). Subsequently, the valuation trends of potential second use were verified through a systematic review, which allowed the construction of the scenario of avoided costs of USD 678,721.5, a product of the total use of the outputs under bioenergy and nutrient source approaches. Finally, the RRSFM indicator was constructed, which can reach the level of 72% and a degree of improvement of 26% by 2026. In parallel, the HCRRS indicator revealed a reduction of 57.1%, 59.6% and 82.8% in emissions of t CO2-eq product in the comparison of scenarios for the use of residues and by-products of palm oil from agro-industries in the Casanare Department.