Orange and lemon waste becomes energy and fertilizer

WASTE-BASED FERTILIZERS –

Sicily is increasingly at the forefront of the orange and lemon peel recycling industry . Thanks to a project funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation, with a €380 allocation, a plant has become operational in the province of Catania—the first in Italy—for the reprocessing of citrus fruit, orange, and lemon pressing residues . This peel waste is used to produce "pastazzo," a paste made from the pulp, seeds, and peel, which is then converted into biogas and fertilizer . Coca-Cola has a specific industrial interest (it purchases 18 percent of the orange juice produced for industrial purposes in Sicily), and now the pilot plant, built near the Faculty of Agriculture in Catania, could become a prototype for deployment throughout the island.

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BENEFITS OF RECYCLING FOOD WASTE –

The benefits of this new agricultural recycling industry would be enormous, both economically and in terms of employment. Currently, citrus waste is treated as waste, which is a real waste. 340 tons are produced annually, with disposal costs amounting to €10 million. By recycling peels , pulp, and seeds, it is possible to obtain energy and fertilizer at a low cost.

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