Orange peel wastes (WOP) are one of the most under-utilized and most geographically diverse bio-waste residues on the planet. After extraction of the juice, the residual peel accounts for 50% of the weight of the fruit. The process to treat and refine these products to something useful is costly and highly regulated.
Orange and other citrus peel waste reaches millions of tons globally and scientists believe that there is a real opportunity to utilize this resource. But current applications and uses for WOP are limited due to its complex chemical and material nature.
New 'OPEC' offers sustainable smell of sweet success
The least appealing part of the world's most popular citrus fruits could soon be more alluring to cosmetic and drug manufacturers and, perhaps, eventually help heat our homes and fuel our cars.
In research described today at the 16th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, scientists from the United Kingdom said they have developed a sustainable way to extract and find uses for virtually every bit of the 15.6 million tons of orange and other citrus peel discarded worldwide every year. These uses could include biosolvents, fragrances and water purification. The project, dubbed the Orange Peel Exploitation Company (OPEC), is a partnership between researchers from the University of York, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the University of Cordoba, Spain. The research team hopes to have a prototype biorefinery up and running soon.
The conference is sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute® (ACS GCI).
