Valorizing industrial side streams through microalgae cultivation: A roadmap for process scale-up

Currently, there is an increased need for more sustainable production processes and to move towards zero-waste manufacturing. In this sense, microalgae have been used as an alternative to traditional remediation techniques with the advantage of generating high value-added products. Some of the industries with the highest amount of waste streams belong to the agro-industrial, food and beverages. Based on this premise, a database compiling different studies in which microalgae were cultured with a working volume of at least 5 L and with industrial wastewater as substrate was developed (>TRL5). The aim of the present review is to provide a roadmap into microalgae use regarding biomass productivity, biomass concentration, removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and Chemical Oxygen Demand and the percentages of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates reported in the literature to better guide academics and industrial stakeholders on making decision to further optimize and valorize their side-streams.