Sustainable vs. Conventional Approach for Olive Oil Wastewater Management: A Review of the State of the Art

Abstract

The main goal of this review is to collect and analyze the recently published research concerning the conventional and sustainable treatment processes for olive mill wastewater (OMW). In the conventional treatment processes, it is noticed that the main objective is to meet the environmental regulations for remediated wastewater without considering the economical values of its valuable constituents such as polyphenols. These substances have many important environmental values and could be used in many vital applications. Conversely, sustainable treatment processes aim to recover the valuable constituents through different processes and then treat the residual wastewater. Both approaches’ operational and design parameters were analyzed to generalize their advantages and possible applications. A valorization-treatment approach for OMW is expected to make it a sustainable resource for ingredients of high economical value that could lead to a profitable business. In addition, inclusion of a recovery process will detoxify the residual OMW, simplify its management treatment, and allow the possible reuse of the vast amounts of processed water. In a nutshell, the proposed approach led to zero waste with a closed water cycle development.

Anaerobic Digestion of Olive Mill Wastewater and Process Derivatives—Biomethane Potential, Operation of a Continuous Fixed Bed Digester, and Germination Index

“…Depolyphenolized OMW samples were subjected to mechanical pretreatment, ultrafiltration, and a selective polyphenol extraction process by adsorption. The extracted polyphenols were further purified for valorization in industrial applications, such as feed additives or cosmetics [11]. The residue from the ultrafiltration process was reduced to roughly 40% of the feed volume.…”

Assessment of Effluent Wastewater Quality and the Application of an Integrated Wastewater Resource Recovery Model: The Burgersfort Wastewater Resource Recovery Case Study

“…Although most of the resource recovery technologies have expensive capital and operational costs, the benefits of utilizing such technologies could prove to outweigh such costs. The production of good quality recovered water resources could lead to the recovery of costs because of the resource sales to local communities, and such cashflow would support the economic feasibility and sustainable operation of the wastewater resource recovery facility [59].…”

Dietary supplementation with olive oil co-products rich in polyphenols: a novel nutraceutical approach in monogastric animal nutrition

“…This innovative method could be a valorization to make the co-products of olive oil a nutritional source of high economic value. Moreover, the novel recovery processes concerning olive oil co-products, in general, helps also to simplify their disposal and management (18).…”