Various authors & Jan Weijma 
Instant Insights: Developing a circular economy [EPUB ebook] 

• Chapter 1 – Circular, closed-loop agricultural systems: key principles and challenges: Rolf Meyer, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany;
  
  
  
  • 1 Introduction
  
  
  • 2 Circular agriculture: principles and practice
  
  
  • 3 Circular biomass use
  
  
  • 4 Circular nutrition provision
  
  
  • 5 Circular energy provision
  
  
  • 6 Cascade use as a special form of circularity
  
  
  • 7 Conclusion and future trends
  
  
  • 8 Where to look for further information
  
  
  • 9 References
  
  


• Chapter 2 – Redirecting nutrients in urban waste to urban agriculture: Rosanne Wielemaker and Jan Weijma, Wageningen University, The Netherlands;
  
  
  
  • 1 Introduction
  
  
  • 2 Urban agriculture and new sanitation
  
  
  • 3 Background information
  
  
  • 4 Case studies
  
  
  • 5 Challenges for integration: areas for future research
  
  
  • 6 Conclusion and future trends
  
  
  • 7 Where to look for further information
  
  
  • 8 References
  
  


• Chapter 3 – Developing bioplastics from agro-industrial wastes for applications in food packaging: Angela Marchetti, Gaia Salvatori and Lionel Tayou Nguemna, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Mattia Grumi, Ahmet Ozan Basar, María Pardo-Figuerez, Jose Maria Lagaron and Cristina Prieto, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), Spain; Chiara Marcoaldi, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), Spain; Marianna Villano and Mauro Majone, Research Center for Applied Sciences to the Safeguard of Environment and Cultural Heritage (CIABC) and Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; and David Bolzonella, University of Verona, Italy;
  
  
  
  • 1 Introduction: the problem of plastic waste
  
  
  • 2 Bioplastics as a promising alternative
  
  
  • 3 Types of bio-based polymers
  
  
  • 4 Bioplastics from renewable feedstocks: the example of polyhydroxyalkanoates from agricultural waste
  
  
  • 5 Cost evaluation of biopolymers
  
  
  • 6 Applications of bioplastics in food packaging
  
  
  • 7 Innovative food packaging
  
  
  • 8 Packaging production techniques
  
  
  • 9 Case study: the Horizon 2020 Usable Packaging project
  
  
  • 10 Conclusion and future research needs
  
  
  • 11 References
  
  


• Chapter 4 – Closed plant production systems in vertical farms for a circular economy: Yoshiaki Kitaya, Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan;
  
  
  
  • 1 Introduction
  
  
  • 2 Environmental control in facility-based plant production systems as semi-closed systems
  
  
  • 3 Facility-based plant production systems with efficient circulation of materials
  
  
  • 4 Sustainable balance of human activities and environmental conservation in urban ecosystems
  
  
  • 5 Conclusion
  
  
  • 6 References
  
  


• Chapter 5 – Building natural resource networks: urban agriculture and the circular economy: Stefano Pascucci, Exeter University, UK;
  
  
  
  • 1 Introduction
  
  
  • 2 Rethinking urban agriculture and food provisioning beyond a linear economy
  
  
  • 3 Designing regenerative urban agri-food systems through a circular economy approach
  
  
  • 4 Strategies for building natural resource networks in circular urban agriculture
  
  
  • 5 Key bottlenecks to transition into circular urban agriculture and food provisioning
  
  
  • 6 Conclusions
  
  
  • 7 References
  
  

Cristina Prieto (Dr.) graduated in Chemical Engineering (2010), at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), received a MSc in Industrial Processes Engineering, and a Ph D in Chemical Engineering at the University Complutense of Madrid (Spain). Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Group (Spanish Council of Scientific Research). She has received the Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Award, the Flucomp Best Thesis Award, the UCM University Entrepreneurship Award, the V Cátedra Agrobank Award, as well as several awards for the quality of her scientific communications. She has published more than 45 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, 3 licensed patents, 3 utility models, 9 chapters, 1 book, and more than 50 abstracts in international conferences. Her expertise involves emerging and conventional encapsulation technologies with application in the food and pharmaceutical industries.