April 12th, 2023
Thesis title is Transforming residual biomass into food and feed products – towards a life cycle optimization platform
This thesis aims to assess the environmental relevance of “waste-to-nutrition” strategies, that is, strategies transforming residual biomass streams into edible ingredients. Albeit increasingly promoted, these approaches rely on emerging technologies and constrained resources. Therefore, it remains unclear if their implementation would achieve greater environmental benefits than current practices. Through the elaboration of a harmonized and parametric life cycle assessment (LCA) model, this work unravels how and under which conditions transforming waste, residues or co-products into food and feed can be beneficial to the environment. Twenty-seven different waste management practices are scrutinized and compared under several deployment contexts and future technology performances, enabling to draw a comprehensive picture of achievable benefits and trade-offs.
