With stringent environmental regulations and a new drive for sustainable manufacturing, there is an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate novel manufacturing techniques. Recent political and pandemic events have shown the vulnerability to supply chains, highlighting the need for localised manufacturing capabilities to better respond flexibly to national demand. In this paper, we have used the spinning mesh disc reactor (SMDR) as a case study to demonstrate the path forward for manufacturing in the post-Covid world. The SMDR uses centrifugal force to allow the spread of thin film across the spinning disc which has a cloth with immobilised catalyst. The modularity of the design combined with the flexibility to perform a range of chemical reactions in a single equipment is an opportunity towards sustainable manufacturing. A global approach to market research allowed us to identify sectors within the chemical industry interested in novel reactor designs. The drivers for implementing change were identified as low capital cost, flexible operation and consistent product quality. Barriers include cost of change (regulatory and capital costs), limited technical awareness, safety concerns and lack of motivation towards change. Finally, applying the key features of a Sustainable Business Model (SBM) to SMDR, we show the strengths and opportunities for SMDR to align with an SBM allowing for a low-cost, sustainable and regenerative system of chemical manufacturing.

The improper disposal of flower waste from cultural activities is one of the main challenges in certain countries such as India. If the flower waste is not managed properly, it causes a number of environmental issues. Therefore, various technologies have been developed to transform flower waste into value-added products. To integrate multiple technologies holistically to maximise the energy and material recovery, an integrated flower-waste biorefinery is required. Since there are a wide range of technologies available that can convert the waste into multiple products, there is a need to develop a systematic approach to evaluate all the technologies. This research proposes a systematic approach to synthesise an integrated flower-waste biorefinery based on different optimisation objectives, e.g., maximum economic performance and minimum environmental impact. Due to the conflicting nature between the two objectives, a fuzzy optimisation approach has been adapted to synthesise a sustainable integrated flower-waste biorefinery that satisfies both objectives at once. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a case study in India based on the optimised results with fuzzy optimisation—a synthesised flower-waste integrated biorefinery with economy performance of $400,932 and carbon emission of 46,209 kg CO₂/h.

• Flower waste as an alternative feedstock to produce bioactive compounds. • Streptomyces shown to utilise semi-solid flower media in a 6-week incubation period. • Extraction with ethyl acetate to isolate bioactive compounds from the crude media. • Phenolic and carboxylic acid derivates found to be key compounds produced.

Terpene esters are one of the most important and versatile compounds for the flavour, fragrance and pharmaceutical industries and are currently produced commercially using petrochemical-based starting materials and chemical catalysis routes. There is a current need in the industry to develop alternatives to the current production process due to an increased demand for natural products, environmental safety and sustainability. This paper for the first time demonstrates a kinetic study for the simultaneous transesterification of geraniol and citronellol using Pseudomonas Fluorescens lipase to produce geranyl and citronellyl esters. The study initially screened the influence of the molar ratio of alcohol to vinyl acetate for individual alcohol transesterification, revealing that increasing the molar ratio led to higher ester yields. The optimised conditions were determined as follows: a molar ratio of 1:4, temperature of 40 °C, agitation speed of 250 RPM, and an enzyme loading of 10 wt.% of alcohol. After 24 hours, the conversion rates reached 95% and 87% for geraniol and citronellol, respectively. These conditions were then applied to the simultaneous transesterification of citronellol and geraniol, with the best experimental condition being a molar ratio of 1:8. The kinetic study demonstrated that the simultaneous transesterification followed a ternary complex mechanism with vinyl acetate inhibition, which was consistent with the experimental data. A preliminary experiment involving the transesterification of rose oil resulted in a conversion rate of 32% for citronellol and 50% for geraniol after 30 hours of reaction time. Overall, this study showcases the potential of enzyme catalysts to selectively produce terpene esters from heterogeneous terpene alcohol mixtures and can be extended to terpene alcohols present in natural essential oils.