Evolution of the Olive Oil Industry along the Entire Production Chain and Related Waste Management

Abstract

The production of olive oil involves the sustainable management of the waste produced along the entire production chain. This review examines the developments regarding cultivation techniques, production technologies, and waste management, highlighting the goals to be achieved and the most reasonable prospects. The results show that cultivation and production technology have evolved to an almost final solution to meet economic feasibility, keeping the oil’s high quality. Continuous horizontal decanters will coexist with traditional mills in many countries with old olive oil production and consumption traditions. High-quality products have conquered markets, especially in the wealthiest countries. At the same time, the exploitation of dried pomace by solvent extraction is increasingly an obsolete practice. However, waste management is still looking for one or a few reasonable solutions that meet modern society’s constraints. The enhancement of some experienced technologies and the full-scale application of emerging technologies and strategies should solve this problem in the short–medium term. A short discussion is reported on the possibility of unifying the nature and the quality of the waste, whatever the olive oil production method is. Furthermore, modern thermochemical treatment for solid wet organic waste disposal is examined and discussed.

Towards the Integral Valorization of Olive Pomace‐Derived Biomasses through Biorefinery Strategies

“…Moreover, intensive drying of the pomace is required for extraction, increasing costs and uncertainty when it depends on fossil fuels. Overall, this could be related to the fact that olive pomace oil extraction plants have been dismissed in some countries, while in other countries like the USA this industry has not emerged [13]. Nevertheless, some industries use the dry and exhausted olive pomace (also called de-oiled and defatted olive pomace) obtained in the extraction process as a fuel resource to increase profitability.…”

“…The olive oil extraction system will strongly influence the proportion and chemical composition of the biomasses generated, including the moisture, oil, and lignocellulose content [11][12][13]. This fact is crucial to establish management and valor-ization strategies due to this sector's continuous technological changes.…”

Agro-industrial-based wastes as supplementary cementitious or alkali-activated binder material: a comprehensive review

“…1 a Fly ash; b silica fume; c GGBS; d rice husk ash; e bagasse ash; and f coconutbased waste ash [5][6][7] agricultural and food wastes as shown in Fig. 3b [17][18][19][20][21]. Various studies have been and are being conducted on the utilization of industrial wastes in concrete production.…”

“…2 a Global cement and waste produced; b classification of wastes produced [12][13][14] Fig. 3 a Industrial waste produced; b agricultural and food wastes produced [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] system when it is calcined and uncalcined. The graphical abstract representing the present study carried out for agroindustrial-based wastes used as SCM or AAB materials, and its effect after calcination is shown in Fig.…”

Mathematical Modeling on Vacuum Drying of Olive Pomace

“…Its main components are the skin and the crushed pulp of the olive; it still contains a certain amount of fat and a large amount of water, which varies according to the variety of olives and especially the extraction process used. The pomace derived from the pressure system contains a moisture content of about 30 % [5]. However, Continuous 3 and 2-phase centrifugal extraction systems, on the other hand, leave a much wetter pomace with a moisture content of between 45 and 65 % [6].…”