Sustainable Bioethanol Production from Soft Tissue Waste: Combining Hybrid Hydrolysis, Yeast Fermentation, and Membrane‐Based Separation

The pressing necessity to substitute fossil fuels drives the investigation of biofuels sourced from biomass feedstock. This study investigates a novel and environmentally sustainable approach to transform soft tissue waste into bioethanol. Exploring soft tissue waste as a cellulose source via hybrid hydrolysis, utilizing diverse acids, bases, neutral solvents, and physical methods such as microwaving, autoclaving, and sonication, succeeds by enzymatic hydrolysis. The yeast strain Hanseniaspora uvarum (STDF‐AP1), derived from rotten apples and identified in GenBank with the accession number OP861649, is utilized in fermentation. Results indicate that direct hydrolysis using cellulase enzyme, without preceding treatment, produces 10.86 g L−1 of glucose. Employing the Box–Behnken design, it is determined that a 12.5% tissue waste hydrolysate, incubated at 40 °C with a medium pH of 6, maximizes bioethanol production at 7.55 g L−1. Bioethanol is purified with a PVC/PI/Graphite membrane, resulting in a separation factor of 36.48 and a flux of 245.65 g m−2 h. These findings affirm the feasibility of soft tissue waste as a sustainable feedstock for bioethanol synthesis, aiding in renewable energy generation and mitigating carbon emissions in accordance with global sustainability goals.