Life cycle assessment for valorization of orange and apple juice residues

Healthy diet trends increased the demand for natural and nutrient beverages, including fruit juices. In the ever-growing fruit juice market, orange and apple juice are the most popular flavors. Nearly half of the cultivated fruits are processed into juice, creating a great amount of residue. The current waste management techniques for these residues are landfilling or composting. Instead, they can be valorized to produce value-added products within the circular economy model. As the resources are finite, transitioning to a circular economy model is crucial for a sustainable future. Novel technologies have been emerging to support a circular and biobased economy to utilize agricultural waste. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied for orange juice residues to produce d-limonene and pectin; and for apple juice residues to produce succinic acid and xylitol. D-limonene was extracted by cold-pressing and solvent-free microwave extraction and pectin was extracted by acid hydrolysis. Waste apple pomace was used to produce succinic acid and xylitol by fermentation. The valorization routes were compared with landfilling, showing all of them performed better environmentally except succinic acid. 3 future scenarios were created based on the decarbonization of electricity and agriculture for climate goals. Results showed that the environmental impacts were caused by intensive electricity use in production and agricultural production, so valorization routes would perform better in future scenarios with decarbonization in electricity and agriculture.