Feedstock flexibility in sustainable chemistry: Bridging sectors still not sufficiently familiar with each other - Showcases of ongoing and emerging initiatives

The replacement of the fossil resources historically employed for chemicals' production is of major scientific interest the last decades, as a result of the environmental issues arisen and the price versatility of petroleum. Biotechnological routes present promising alternatives for the production of various platform chemicals such as succinic, lactic and muconic acids among others. The utilisation of agricultural and agro-industrial waste and by-product streams would not only reduce the overall production cost but also it would assist towards the direction of the bio-economy era. This review presents some important chemicals produced from renewable feedstocks, aiming to bridge the waste suppliers to the chemical production industries.