Pressure-driven membrane processes involved in waste management in agro-food industries: A viewpoint

To date, according to the latest literature inputs, pressure-driven membrane technologies (i.e. microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration) are a latent alternative for the integral management of agro-food by-products, which are commonly produced in food processing industries. Primarily, these membrane technologies were proposed for the treatment of wastes. Nowadays, based on the current tendencies of the circular economy, which deals with the reuse of such wastes, the role of the membrane technology has shifted to the valorization of the agro-industrial by-products. Thereby, this short communication provides an outlook on the utilization of aqueous wastes from industries, highlighting the real advantages that these methodologies offer in terms of high-added value solute recovery. Moreover, the environmental benefits of membrane technology (water reclamation) are also given.