Valorization of Sugar Industry Waste for Value-Added Products

Abstract

India is the second-largest cultivator of sugarcane worldwide, the primary source of refined sugar. Increased demand for sugar has driven this industry as a mainstream pollutant-generating industry. Every year, a tremendous amount of liquid (molasses) and solid wastes (sugarcane bagasse, filter cake) are generated, posing a major bottleneck for waste management. Although there exist traditional approaches like incineration, landfills are being employed for handling sugarcane waste which leads to the emission of greenhouse gases, and foul odour and adds more cost to running a sustainable industry. Moreover, no value-added product is formed from such traditional approaches resulting in an immense loss of bioenergy. Researchers have emphasized transforming waste into a sustainable economic generation of higher\-value products over the past few decades. Sugarcane industrial waste is a rich source of lignocellulosic organic biomass, which is used as a raw material for the production of biofuel (bioethanol, biogas), single cells proteins, enzymes, organic acids, food additives and nutraceuticals. Day by day, with advanced technology, novel applications are evolving, adding more thrust to this area. In this chapter, the potential of valorization of sugarcane waste to value-added products is discussed comprehensively.