Lignocellulose as a fundamental resource for a sustainable development

Nowadays, the topic of environmental preservation and remediation plays an important role within the activities of the scientificcommunity. Indeed, the procrastination of effective measures to mitigate the environmental damages caused by human activities is nolonger possible. In particular, the use of non-fossil substances should be promoted for different reasons: to reduce the environmentaldisequilibria of the areas involved in the fossil fuel extraction; to decrease the impact of emissions and by-products related to the industrialtransformation of fossil-based products; possibly, to exploit biomasses as sources of organic carbon with net zero carbon emission. Asregards the type of biomass, herein, a focus on the use of lignocellulose biomass (LCB) will be presented, in particular when it is in theform of waste, often non-correctly disposed or incinerated, representing a biohazard. Waste-LCB are low-cost, easy-available and greenraw material. Despite of the variability among different lignocellulose biomasses, in general, they present convenient chemical-physicalfeatures that make them suitable compounds for several purposes. An overview of the multiple functions of lignocellulose biomass in thebroad field of green chemistry and green catalysis will be explored. Thanks to the versatility of LCB, it has found application as anadsorbent for aqueous pollutant removal, as a precursor of bio-carbons with multi-purpose applications and reinforcing agent for plasticsand construction materials. Within the catalysis field, LCB can be the substrate of catalytic transformation, when their constitutingbiopolymers (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) are converted to platform molecules and strategic building blocks, which can substitute somepetroleum derivatives for the production of biochemicals and biofuels, in a perspective of lessening the petroleum dependence. Strongefforts have to made to make this kind of processes sustainable, i.e. the employment of heterogeneous catalysts able to catalyze one ormulti-step sequences, as well as the choice of solvent that, in most of the cases, plays a significant role for the reaction evolution. LCB canbe considered also as a precursor for humic-like substances, isolated from waste-LCB, which are photocatalytically active compounds, ableto degrade water contaminants under light irradiation, through the production of excited species and whose activity is strictly related bytheir origin and chemical structure. Lastly, LCB has been recently considered also as a support for metal/metal oxide catalysts and in otherhigh-technological applications. Given the wide scenario involving lignocellulose-based compounds, this presentation is aimed to proposefood for thought about a multifunctional approach on the valorization of waste-LCB for an eco-sustainable development.