Application of Linear Programming for cassava starch production optimization in Vietnam within a Circular Economy framework toward Zero emission

Abstract

Cassava starch production is a key industrial production of Tay Ninh province, Vietnam. However, this production chain has also caused many negative impacts on the environment. This study applied the principles of circular economy to analyze the waste streams via linear programming method for cassava starch circular production chain towards zero waste emission. The results show that the cassava starch indutry can achieve the goals of zero electricity, zero waste, and zero fossil energy by re-planning the production chain. The chain’s output products are 517.5 tons of bio-oil/year, 206.7 thousand tons of biochar/year, 190.0 thousand tons of dry pulp/year, 10 million m<sup>3</sup>/year of liquid fertilizer. In order to increase further the value of the chain in the circular economy, future research needs to study the feasibility of a solution to reuse wastewater to produce microalgae, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of these methods. The optimization method applied in this study can also be extended to similar agricultural chains properties such as rice processing, sugar cane, etc.