Potential applications of hazelnut industry waste based on material properties

• More efficient usage of agricultural residues is very appealing to guarantee sustainable and cleaner production processes. • Other studies consider the use of hazelnut residues; however, most focus on low-value applications. • The high heat of combustion makes this agro-waste suitable for energy production applications. • Principal objective of hazelnut shell and skin valorization is promoting the use of agro-waste for multiple products and applications. The agricultural industry generates tons of biomass worldwide each year which are denominated as agro-waste and can be considered one of the cheapest and easily renewable resources on the planet. Hazelnut shell and skin are among these agro-waste and their current uses are limited to boiler fuel, mulch or compost. This study is focused on the search for industrial applications that add value to hazelnut shells and skins, which enables its use it as a higher quality eco-material. For this purpose, physical and chemical characterization of the hazelnut by-products was done. Mechanical characterization was not possible due to the nature of the material itself. Once all the characteristics of the hazelnut skin and shell were collected, other materials with similar characteristics were identified through scientific literature. The identification of applications was made in two ways. On the one hand, thanks to the material characterization, applications based on material properties were identified. On the other hand, thanks to the identification of similar materials, applications based on applications of similar materials were found. The results obtained in this research demonstrate that the utilization of the proposed methodology is successful for the identification of potential applications or products to valorize the hazelnut shell and skin. The complete characterization and the research of applications allow a better understanding of the material and, consequently, a greater capacity to develop high-value applications.