From Waste to Value: Valorisation Pathways for Organic Waste Streams in Circular Bioeconomies (Routledge Studies in Waste Management and Policy)

From Waste to Value investigates how streams of organic waste and residues can be transformed into valuable products, to foster a transition towards a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. The studies are carried out within a cross-disciplinary framework, drawing on a diverse set of theoretical approaches and defining different valorisation pathways. Organic waste streams from households and industry are becoming a valuable resource in today's economies. Substances that have long represented a cost to companies and a burden for society are now becoming an asset. Waste products, such as leftover food, forest residues and animal carcasses, can be turned into valuable products such as biomaterials, biochemicals and biopharmaceuticals. Exploiting these waste resources is challenging, however. It requires that companies develop new technologies and that public authorities introduce new regulation and governance models. This book helps policy-makers govern and regulate bio-based industries, and helps industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the circular bioeconomy. Moreover, it provides important insights for all students and scholars concerned with renewable energy, sustainable development and climate change. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of figures 9 List of tables 11 Notes on contributors 13 Acknowledgements 18 1 Introduction 22 1.1 Framework 23 1.2 Important themes addressed in the book 28 1.3 An overview of the book 33 References 35 Part I: Perspectives on the bioeconomy 38 2 What is the bioeconomy? 40 2.1 Introduction 40 2.2 Methodology 41 2.3 Bibliometric analysis of scientific literature on the bioeconomy 42 2.4 Bioeconomy visions 47 2.5 Findings and concluding remarks 54 Appendix A 56 Appendix B 57 Appendix C 65 Note 67 References 67 3 Theoretical perspectives on innovation for waste valorisation in the bioeconomy 72 3.1 Introduction 72 3.2 The circular bioeconomy 73 3.3 The roles of waste in the bioeconomy 74 3.4 Path dependence and barriers to waste valorisation 77 3.5 Drivers of innovation in waste valorisation 81 3.6 Governance for waste valorisation 83 3.7 Summary 87 Acknowledgements 88 References 88 Part II: Sector studies 92 4 New path development for forest-based value creation in Norway 94 4.1 Introduction 94 4.2 Forest-based value creation with a focus on the valorisation of side-streams and residues 95 4.3 Conceptual framework 98 4.4 Analysis of empirical cases 100 4.5 Conclusion 108 Note 109 References 109 5 Mission-oriented innovation in urban governance: setting and solving problems in waste valorisation 112 5.1 Introduction 112 5.2 Conceptual framework 114 5.3 Research methods and data 118 5.4 Valorisation of urban organic waste: the case of Oslo 118 5.5 Analysis: urban waste valorisation as a mission 122 5.6 Conclusions 125 Note 126 References 126 6 Beyond animal feed? The valorisation of brewers’ spent grain 128 6.1 Introduction 128 6.2 Value creation and sustainable competitive advantage 129 6.3 Methods 131 6.4 Technical options for spent grain use 135 6.5 Overview of current spent grain management 137 6.6 Why don’t the breweries invest in alternative options? 138 6.7 Conclusion 144 Acknowledgements 145 References 146 7 Meat processing and animal by-products: industrial dynamics and institutional settings 148 7.1 Introduction 148 7.2 Theoretical background and approach 149 7.3 The meat processing and ABP industry 150 7.4 The meat processing and ABP sector 153 7.5 Regulation of the meat processing and ABP industry 157 7.6 Change in innovative behaviour 160 7.7 Regulative adjustments 161 7.8 Conclusion 162 References 163 8 New pathways for organic waste in land-based farming of salmon: the case of Norway and Denmark 166 8.1 Introduction 166 8.2 Background 166 8.3 Methodology 172 8.4 Findings 172 8.5 Analysis 175 8.6 Conclusion 179 Notes 181 References 181 9 Valorisation of whey: a tale of two Nordic dairies 183 9.1 Introduction 183 9.2 Properties and uses of acid whey 185 9.3 The dairy sector in Norway 190 9.4 The dairy sector in Denmark 196 9.5 Discussion 200 9.6 Conclusion 204 Acknowledgements 205 References 205 Part III: Cross-sectoral perspectives 208 10 What knowledge does the bioeconomy build upon? 210 10.1 Introduction 210 10.2 Background 211 10.3 Approach 214 10.4 Empirical findings 218 10.5 Human capital and researchers 221 10.6 Concluding discussion 225 References 229 11 Actors and innovators in the circular bioeconomy: an integrated empirical approach to studying organic waste stream innovators 232 11.1 Introduction 232 11.2 Background 233 11.3 Empirical sections 234 11.4 Preliminary conclusions 249 Note 250 References 250 Part IV: Policy implications 252 12 Directionality and diversity: contending policy rationales in the transition towards the bioeconomy 254 12.1 Introduction 254 12.2 Conceptual framework 255 12.3 Materials and methods 260 12.4 Background 262 12.5 Findings 264 12.6 Conclusions and reflections 269 References 271 13 Multi-level governance of food waste: comparing Norway, Denmark and Sweden 274 13.1 Introduction 274 13.2 Theoretical approach and method 276 13.3 Background 278 13.4 Analysis 281 13.5 Conclusions and policy implications 288 Notes 289 References 290 14 Life cycle assessment: a governance tool for transition towards a circular bioeconomy? 293 14.1 Introduction 293 14.2 Life cycle assessment as results 294 14.3 Life cycle assessment as method 297 14.4 Life cycle assessment as a mindset 302 14.5 The different dimensions of life cycle assessment used in governance 305 14.6 Conclusions 308 Note 308 References 309 15 Conclusions 314 15.1 Introduction 314 15.2 Circularity across established sectors and sustainability of valorisation 314 15.3 Regional embedding and geographies of innovation 316 15.4 Resource ownership and interfirm governance structures 318 15.5 Policy and regulation of waste valorisation 320 15.6 Final remarks 321 Index 323 __From Waste to Value__Organic waste streams from households and industry are becoming a valuable resource in today's economies. Substances that have long represented a cost to companies and a burden for society are now becoming an asset. Waste products, such as leftover food, forest residues and animal carcasses, can be turned into valuable products such as biomaterials, biochemicals and biopharmaceuticals. Exploiting these waste resources is challenging, however. It requires that companies develop new technologies and that public authorities introduce new regulation and governance models.This book helps policy-makers govern and regulate bio-based industries, and helps industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the circular bioeconomy. Moreover, it provides important insights for all students and scholars concerned with renewable energy, sustainable development and climate change.