1. Introduction

The intensive development of industrial technologies in the last century led to considerable exhaustion of natural resources. The growing human population needs more and more food and energy and creates higher and deeper pollution of the environment. Without taking measures for prevention of these harmful tendencies, the planet soon would face an ecological catastrophe. To avoid the problem, politicians and scientists from all over the world are looking for different solutions. Considerable importance has the reuse of waste and residues because it offers new resources of raw materials and decreasing of pollution. Most attractive possibilities at the moment represent the processing of waste and residues for bioenergy, and for soil additives and bio-fertilizers as well.

The reuse of waste and residues from the agricultural sector is an actual task in our time. Plant residues and animal residues (manure and bedding) contain useful elements and can be processed for production of bio-fertilizers, compost for soil re-cultivation and biofuels.

Unfortunately, six authors of the chapters included in this book represent non-European societies. Only one chapter is authored by representatives of EU countries. This fact creates the impression for less interest to the reuse of waste and residues in the EU countries. Our experience in this field shows the opposite.
