Implementation of the circular economy is one of the priorities of the European Union, and energy efficiency is one of its pillars. This article discusses an effective use of agri-food industry waste for the purposes of waste-to-energy in biogas plants. Its basic objective is the comparative assessment of the eco-efficiency of biogas production depending on the type of feedstock used, its transport and possibility to use generated heat. The environmental impact of the analysed installations was assessed with the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Cost calculation was performed using the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) method. The LCA analysis indicated that a biogas plant with a lower level of waste heat use where substrates were delivered by wheeled transport has a negative impact on the environment. The structure of distributed energy production cost indicates a substantial share of feedstock supply costs in the total value of the LCOE ratio. Thus, the factor affecting the achievement of high eco-efficiency is the location of a biogas plant in the vicinity of an agri-food processing plant, from which the basic feedstock for biogas production is supplied with the transmission pipeline, whereas heat is transferred for the needs of production processes in a processing plant or farm.

This article is an overview of the current situation as well as future prospects for biogas production in rural plants in Poland. Our research has focused on the management of agricultural waste. While Poland’s agriculture and its local food industry have substantial potential, many barriers persist to the development not only of biogas plants but also in every other renewable source of energy. The main obstacles have to do with politically motivated economic factors. Our interest has been in larger plants having sufficient capacities to produce in excess of 500 kW of electricity. The paper also presents a case study of a biogas plant supply by organic, agrifood waste mixed with silage.

Effective waste management plays a vital role in advancing sustainability goals across industries, with particular relevance to glass manufacturing—a sector that generates significant environmental challenges due to its resource-intensive production processes and high waste generation. The scale of production results in the accumulation of substantial amounts of waste glass, which, if not efficiently managed, contributes to environmental degradation. In this context, craft-beer production, which increasingly relies on glass bottles for packaging, presents unique challenges and opportunities for implementing sustainable practices. The sector faces trade-offs between increasing the use of recycled glass (cullet) and addressing the environmental impacts associated with transporting materials over long distances. The combination of centralized waste processing systems and long-distance transport adds economic and environmental costs, with transportation contributing up to 60–80% of overall waste management expenses. Addressing these issues requires an integrated approach that evaluates critical variables, such as cullet content and transport logistics, to identify solutions that balance economic and environmental efficiency. This study addresses the pressing issue of optimizing the recycling of glass bottles for craft-beer packaging by examining the combined influence of cullet content and transport distance on environmental sustainability. The objective was to assess the environmental impacts associated with varying levels of cullet content (0%, 57%, and 90%) and transport distances (25 to 250 km) using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology aligned with ISO standards and the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs). The analysis demonstrated that increasing the proportion of recycled glass and reducing transport distances are key to improving environmental efficiency in bottle production. The most environmentally favorable scenario, S03 (90% cullet content), remains effective even at greater transport distances. In contrast, scenario S02 (57% cullet content) requires further distance reductions to maintain efficiency, particularly beyond 150 km. These findings highlight the importance of shorter supply chains and higher recycled material content as essential steps toward sustainable glass bottle production for the craft-beer industry.

Increasing interest in bioenergy production in the context of the transition towards a circular economy and the promotion of renewable energy has produced demands for optimization of the value chain of energy production to improve the environmental viability of the system. Hotspot analysis based on life cycle assessment (LCA) contributes to the mitigation of environmental burdens and is a very important step towards the implementation of a bioeconomy strategy. In this study, hotspots identified using two parallel pathways: a literature review and empirical research on four different biogas plants located in Poland. LCA and energy return on investment (EROI) analysis of the whole bioenergy production chain were considered to identify unit processes or activities that are highly damaging to the environment. The biogas plants differ mainly in the type of raw materials used as an input and in the method of delivery. The results show that the most impactful processes are those in the delivery of biomass, especially road transport by tractor. The second contributor was crop cultivation, where fossil fuels are also used. Although the EROI analysis indicates a negligible impact of transport on the energy efficiency of bioenergy plants, the environmental burden of biomass transportation should be taken into consideration when planning further measures to support the development of the bioeconomy.