Abstract
Sustainability refers to the practice of meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It encompasses various activities and principles to maintain ecological balance and environmental protection, ensure economic viability and development, and promote social equity. Achieving sustainability involves the collective efforts of individuals, businesses, governments, and international organizations to create a more sustainable and equitable world.
Agricultural and agro-industrial waste management involves handling, processing, and disposing waste materials generated from farming and agro-industrial activities to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability. Effective agricultural and agro-industrial waste management is essential for sustainable agriculture. By implementing practices that reduce, reuse, recycle, and properly dispose of waste, we can protect the environment, enhance resource efficiency, and support the economic viability of agricultural systems. Collaboration among farmers, industries, governments, and researchers is critical to developing and promoting sustainable waste management solutions.
Sustainability in agricultural and agro-industrial waste management is essential for creating resilient food systems. By adopting practices that reduce waste, recycle resources, and generate renewable energy, we can protect the environment, enhance economic viability, and promote social equity. Collaboration among farmers, industries, policymakers, and communities is vital to driving sustainable waste management and achieving broader sustainability goals.
In this context, SBERA was founded in 2008 to promote the International Symposium on Agricultural and Agro-industrial Waste Management (SIGERA) to foster scientific debate and present technological alternatives to waste from the agro-industrial chain. The past event occurred at the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), from November 6th to 10th, 2023, a 5-day event where the management of agricultural and agro-industrial waste was discussed, and knowledge was shared to expand the network of relationships and successful experiences in the area. This general assessment can be made about the VIII SIGERA—International Symposium on Agricultural and Agro-industrial Waste Management.
In addition to presenting academic works, which allowed a network for sharing scientific findings and evaluating technologies, Sigera also allowed scientists and personalities who stand out in agricultural and agro-industrial waste studies to be heard.
In this edition, the event also brought together women who work in agricultural and agro-industrial waste management in the first 2 days, promoted a training track for biogas laboratories, and held a mini-course for implementing technology-based businesses and entrepreneurship. Two days were dedicated to lectures, presentations of studies, and awards for the best works.
The scientific committee selected the best research after a careful peer-review evaluation process based on the work’s novelty, high scientific quality, and applicability for the agriculture and agroindustry. The authors were invited to share the full paper version in Industrial Biotechnology Journal, as listed below: Mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Fruit and Vegetable Waste: Single- Versus Two-Stage Reactor and Modeling of the Liquid and Solid Fractions of the Residue, Priscilla de Souza Almeida, Camila Aparecida de Menezes, Willame de Araújo Cavalcante, Nicolas Freitas Pinheiro, Francisco das Chagas Gomes da Silva Júnior, Michael Barbosa Viana, and Renato Carrhá Leitão
Improvement of anammox particle size distribution in a reactor fed with real effluent using flow rate as a strategy to increase the load rate, Jadiane Paola Cavaler, Fabiane Goldschmidt Antes, Éverton Rocha da Silva, Sandra Cristine Almeida Mota, William Mioranza, Marina Celant De Prá, Airton Kunz
Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Nanofibers Loaded with a Bioactive Hydrolysate Obtained from Microbial Bioconversion of Feathers, aiara Jacinta Clerici, Flávio Fonseca Veras, Aline Aniele Vencato, Rafael Helm Júnior, Daniel Joner Daroit, and Adriano Brandelli
Hydrogen and methane production in two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors from crude glycerol, Renato Leitão, Michael Viana, Eduardo Vasconcelos, Camila Menezes, Priscilla Almeida, Sandra Santaella, Andre dos Santos
The organizing committee of SIGERA wishes you a good reading of this special edition of the Industrial Biotechnology journal and invites you to participate in the IX SIGERA that will take place in November 2025 in Mar Del Plata/Argentina (https://simposioderesiduos.com.ar/).