Advancing sustainability: Innovative waste-to-biofuel pathways for circular economy in Africa, A review

Abstract

Africa’s growing waste burden and rising energy demand present both a challenge and an opportunity for advancing circular bioeconomy strategies. Waste-to-biofuel pathways offer dual benefits of waste valorization and renewable energy generation, leveraging biochemical, thermochemical, and hybrid conversion processes. However, despite extensive global literature, there remains a lack of integrated, Africa-focused assessment that connects emerging technologies to regional feedstock realities, policy frameworks, and sustainability constraints. This review provides a critical, state-of-the-art evaluation of waste-derived biofuels within the African context, with emphasis on Southern Africa’s waste streams and bioethanol production potential. Rather than cataloguing conversion approaches, the analysis synthesizes cross-cutting technological, socio-economic, and environmental factors to identify what realistically limits or enables large-scale deployment. Novel insights are offered into feedstock dynamics, circular-economy linkages, infrastructure deficits, and enabling innovations such as microbial consortia, enzymatic hydrolysis, catalytic upgrading, and integrated biorefineries. By highlighting region-specific opportunities, barriers, and research priorities, this review positions waste-to-biofuel systems as a transformative pathway capable of strengthening energy security, reducing landfill pressures, and advancing Africa’s transition toward a sustainable circular economy. • Delivers an Africa-focused, systems-level review of waste-to-biofuel pathways, integrating feedstocks, technologies, economics, policy, and sustainability. • Maps high-potential waste streams across African regions, identifying region-specific opportunities and constraints for biofuel deployment. • Compares conversion routes using techno-economic and life-cycle insights, highlighting cost and performance gaps relative to developed markets. • Links waste-based biofuels to circular economy, energy security, and access goals in resource-constrained African contexts. • Identifies key policy, finance, and infrastructure levers needed to unlock scalable waste-to-biofuel systems in Africa.