Abstract
Bio‐based products are increasingly in demand due to the fluctuating prices of petroleum and the accumulation of waste and pollution in the environment. For production of bio‐based products, an inexpensive source of raw material must be available. Agricultural waste is plentiful and often readily and cheaply available for conversion into useful, value‐added products. In this chapter, we discuss the conversion of agricultural and food processing waste to bio‐based, biodegradable polymers, as well as activated adsorbents. Biopolymers represent the hopeful future of plastics and can be used as raw material for products that serve a variety of applications. Adsorbents are utilized extensively in waste treatment, as their activated and copious surfaces have been shown to adsorb a variety of pollutants, from pharmaceutical wastes to textile dyes to heavy metals. With the availability of starting material for these products, production of useful and environmentally friendly materials can be realized to a greater scale, considering recent advances in technology.