Agricultural waste

[10][11] Then, instead of being reused to make new products, valuable substances in agricultural waste are turned into CO₂, smog, particulate matter and ash.

[12] Today, burning of agricultural waste is increasingly banned and pruning biomass is used for applications, including woodchipper for bedding soils.

In large quantities, agricultural waste can have a negative impact on the environment and habitat, for example through greenhouse gas emissions, the creation of unpleasant odours, and toxic liquids that can infiltrate water sources.

[20][21] The frequent and large-scale burning of agricultural waste also has negative health impacts on people who are exposed to toxic smog through the fires.

[22] The World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies smog due to agricultural waste burning as one of the largest sources of ambient air pollution.

[24] The absence of environmentally friendly agricultural waste management further leads to animal suffering, water pollution, fertilisation, and decline in biodiversity, among others.

Moreover, incineration for energy generation can be done once, while consumer goods (such as paper made from agricultural waste) can be recycled another seven times.

California accepts burning as a tool to remove weeds, prevent disease and control pests, especially for rice and pears.

[31] CalFibre from USA has developed and build the worlds first rice straw-based medium density fiberboard (MDF) plant, located in Willows, CA.

Vertoro is a spin-off of a public-private partnership between Brightlands Chemelot Campus, DSM, Chemelot InSciTe, Maastricht University (UM) and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), which are making 100% bio-based oil from agricultural waste, among other things, as an alternative to fossil oil.

Because 40% does not meet the requirements of supermarket chains, for example a crooked cucumber or a slightly deformed tomato, a lot of fruit goes to waste.

[34] Fruitleather Rotterdam has therefore developed an eco-friendly production process that converts fruit waste into sustainable leather-like material.

The startup's proprietary technology extracts fibrous materials from agricultural waste and non-edible plants to create an eco-friendly plastic alternative.