Peter Plenge 1 af 33

Zero Waste Society a vision, a way of thinking

and

an opportunity

by

Lene Lange, Professor and Director of Research

Aalborg University, AAU Denmark

Peter Plenge 2 af 33

From Waste to Value gives double value

Definition: Waste is left over non-used materials -present in a place where it is not brought in use -and may polute If waste from one type of process is brought in use in another process it is 1.transformed into value and 2. solving a pollution problem

Peter Plenge 3 af 33

Trend: learning from nature!

B A

Fig. 1. Leaf-cutter ants. A. Ant worker cutting out leaf fragment using its heavy,

serrated mandibles. B. Workers carrying leaf fragments back to the nest. Photos:

Henrik H. de Fine Licht, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Peter Plenge 4 af 33

<Udfyld sidefod-oplysninger her>

My own research group: Protein discovery for Biorefineries from nature´s own biomass conversion niches!

Termite larvae (gut) Cow (rumen) Iberian snail (gut) Leaf cutter ant (fungal garden)

Peter Plenge 5 af 33

Waste is part of the problem and part of the solution Resource efficiency is an integrated part of sustainability

Utilization of “waste” is necessary for feeding and fuelling the 9 billion -and a necessity for transfer to a non-fossil based society where

especially biological resources are in high demand Minimizing waste is an important health parameter for man,

environment and economy Waste to Value technologies can give Europe a competitive strength -Europe is globally leading in industrial biotechnology -biowaste upgrade and biorefinery technologies is the new chapter

Peter Plenge 6 af 33

Biowaste with biorefinery potentials!

Agricultural crop residues

Agroindustrial waste

Manure

Household waste

Sewage sludge

Sea weed

Sea food waste

Peter Plenge 7 af 33

Oil-refinery vs New Bio-refinery from biowaste

Fuels and

energy

Chemicals/feed/food

Lignocellulose

Organic wastes

Marine biomass

Green biomass

Whole crop biomass

Bio

ma

ss

Fuels

and

energy

Chemicals

Petroleum

Liquid, no water

Solid, typically

>15% water

Peter Plenge 9 af 33

The new AAU Cph

Campus