Making Virtue Out of Necessity: Managing the Citrus Waste Supply Chain for Bioeconomy Applications

Maria Raimondo, Francesco Caracciolo, Luigi Cembalo, Gaetano Chinnici, Biagio Pecorino and Mario D’Amico
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Maria Raimondo: Department of Law, Economic, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio, via Delle Puglie 82, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Luigi Cembalo: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, Naples, Italy
Gaetano Chinnici: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental (Di3A), University of Catania, via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
Biagio Pecorino: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental (Di3A), University of Catania, via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
Mario D’Amico: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental (Di3A), University of Catania, via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: The efficient use of agricultural wastes and by-products, which essentially transforms waste materials into value-added products, is considered as pivotal for an effective bioeconomy strategy for the rural development. Within this scope, citrus waste management represents a major issue for citrus processors. However, it also represents a potentially unexploited resource for rural sustainable development. This study focuses on analyzing the current management of citrus waste in South Italy, and on identifying the determinants and barriers that may affect an entrepreneur’s choice in the destination of citrus waste. This study investigates the preferences of citrus processors regarding the contract characteristics necessary to take part in a co-investment scheme. Both analyses are preliminary steps in designing an innovative and sustainable citrus by-product supply chain. Results show that the distance between the citrus processors and the citrus by-products plant is one of the main criteria for choosing alternative valorization pathways. Moreover, guaranteed capital, a short duration of the contract, and reduced risk are contract scheme characteristics that improve entrepreneurs’ willingness to co-invest in the development of a citrus waste multifunctional plant. The overall applied approach can be extended to other contexts for designing new and innovative by-product supply chains, thereby enhancing the implementation of bioeconomy strategies.

Keywords: bio-economy; agricultural by-product; horizontal coordination; contract mechanism; choice model; waste valorization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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