Opportunities of biodiesel industry waste conversion into value-added products

The global attention for the alternative fuel to decrease the dependence on carbon-biased fossil fuels and reduce the carbon footprint led to biodiesel production. Crude glycerol generated as a major by-product of the biodiesel industry. The vast amounts of crude glycerol pose an environmental threat. Valorisation of industrial waste is the big challenge to provide a significant economic advantage by the sustainable approach. Hence the crude glycerol needs to be valorised through the biotechnology process into value-added products and gives biodiesel producers more revenue. The biodiesel industrial by-product glycerol waste serves as raw material to convert into several products like citric acid, succinic acid, 1,3-propanediol, butanol, and ethanol. The present manuscript focuses on the significance of crude glycerol from the biodiesel industry as a stable feedstock that undergoes biotransformation to value-added products by microorganisms. Copyright (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Symposium of Reaction Engineering, Catalysis & Sustainable Energy