Sustainable Environmental Management and Valorization Options for Olive Mill Byproducts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

Abstract

Cultivation of olive trees and olive oil production have been considered as a legacy for the Mediterranean region. This custom represents a very important benefit for many nations in terms of wealth and health. However, huge amounts of by-products and waste are generated during olive oil production. This represents a serious environmental impact on land and water bodies if not properly handled. Olive oil extraction generates two waste streams, a solid waste called pomace and olive mill wastewater (OMWW), which has been considered as highly pollutant and phytotoxic waste. These wastes have high disposal costs and predominantly generated from small-scale enterprises that have limited financial resources to treat them properly before discharge to the environment. Besides being a serious environmental problem, OMWW has potential economic value that remains to be utilized such as: fertilizers, valuable antioxidants agents and fatty acids needed in human diet. Also, Olive pomace is a valuable renewable energy source with an energy density of 23 MJ/kg and has become an inexpensive alternative for fossil fuels. Aiming at adding value to the olive production sectors and potential valorization options for byproducts in the MENA region, international practices applied in olive mills wastes management’s and treatment methods used in major oil producing countries are presented.