# Waste-Based Volatile Fatty Acids for Fuel and Chemical Production

## TL;DR

The paper explores using waste to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) for a circular carbon economy, projecting large-scale potential by 2050.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel projection of VFA recovery from waste streams and evaluates their role in a circular carbon economy.

## Key findings

- Waste-derived VFA recovery potential could reach 581 Mt yr–1 by 2050.
- Waste VFAs can be distributed across chemicals and energy sectors in a circular economy.
- Anaerobic digestion and new technologies enable large-scale waste-to-VFA conversion.

## Abstract

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are versatile intermediates
for circular
chemical and fuel manufacturing. Current VFA production relies heavily
on fossil feedstocks and serves a narrow set of commodity markets.
Here, we project VFA demand through 2050 and evaluate the potential
to recover VFAs from abundant, widely available waste streams, exploring
how waste-derived VFAs can support a broader circular carbon economy
by midcentury. We project that the global VFA recovery potential from
waste could reach ∼581 Mt yr–1 by 2050, roughly
10 times higher than projected demand in existing markets. Integrating
waste-carbon streams with anaerobic digestion infrastructure and emerging
VFA production and separation technologies provides a feasible route
for large-scale waste-to-VFA conversion. We project that in a 2050
circular scenario, ∼581 Mt yr–1 of waste-derived
VFAs can be flexibly distributed across various chemicals and energy
sectors, supplying a significant portion of anticipated demand and
establishing VFAs as a scalable, multifunctional platform molecule
for a circular carbon economy.