A Multicriteria Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Viticulture and Winery Waste Valorization Routes under Cleaner Production and Circular Economy Principles

Abstract This review proposes a simple, broadly applicable multicriteria framework for classifying valorization routes for viticulture and winery waste under Cleaner Production and Circular Economy principles. The wine sector generates nutrient-rich by-products, yet most valorization studies evaluate isolated aspects and rarely integrate environmental benefits, contaminant risks, and circularity in a single comparison. This is important because a residue- management route may improve resource recovery while simultaneously increasing energy demand, transferring contaminants, or weakening material circularity. The framework combines six criteria, namely resource recovery efficiency, climate benefit, circularity potential, economic viability, environmental safety, and technological scalability, each scored semi-quantitatively using linguistic descriptors that are converted into numerical values, weighted, and aggregated into a composite score in which environmental safety acts as a constraint that cannot be offset by strong performance elsewhere. Using evidence from studies on grape by-products, we illustrate the framework and show how it flags routes that may transfer environmental burdens. The tool supports researchers, companies, and policy makers and can be adapted to other agro-industrial residues. Its principal purpose is screening and structured comparison rather than replacement of detailed life-cycle, economic, or toxicological assessments.