• OLEAF4VALUE is a BBI-JU, H2020-funded EU project that aims to extend the useful life of olive leaves, solving the problem of their removal from the fields while obtaining high added-value bioactive products with high-market potential.
• The project will set up the basis of six smart value chains based on a newly developed 4.0 concept: Smart Dynamic Multi-Valorisation-Route Biorefinery (SAMBIO) for the cascade valorisation of the olive leaf biomass according to its initial composition (Biomass Suitability Index).
• The OLEAF4VALUE project started on July 1^st, 2021. It puts together a competitive consortium of 16 highly experienced partners across Europe devoted to the complete valorisation of this new underutilised biomass.

OLEAF4VALUE has progressed significantly at each stage of the project development during the first 18 months of exhaustive work. Key advancements are listed below:

Smart supply chain development: from underexploited biomass to a standardised starting material

This stage served as scrutiny of an overview of the state-of-the-art olive tree farms and the identification of the most suitable biomass providers. Samples were characterized in the laboratory and fields, with portable spectroscopic instruments. An important activity was the systematic analysis of leaves’ residual streams providing detailed quantifiers of potential resources available for bio-refinery.

Main results: the previously mentioned activities showed that olive leaves supply chains vary fundamentally in different regions represented within the team of the OLEAF4VALUE project. The quantity of biomass available for bio-refineries varies depending on the tree species, pruning/harvesting methods, handling of residuals, and storage duration.

Multi-valorisation route: from a standardised starting material to added-value fractions and bioproducts

This stage is devoted to the development of the downstream process routes that the olive leaf raw material will go through. Partners involved in these actions have begun charting the smart biorefinery’s downstream processing schemes to convert the olive leaf biomass into various high added-value products. The biorefinery will be equipped with a Smart Optimization Tool, a software program that guides the downstream processing of each olive leaf batch towards different end products, taking into consideration its composition and market demand at the given moment.

Main results: one of the main achievements so far is that 15 products have already been produced in this stage, achieving our first milestone.

Post-extraction technologies: From extracted fractions to high added-value tailor-made bioproducts

In this stage, project partners have developed different formulations for oral administration and other Molecularly Imprinted Polymers to aid with the production of tailor-made bioproducts from various olive leaf extracts. Moreover, from minoritary molecules present in olive leaf extracts, new molecules of high value -for pharma, cosmetic and nutraceutical industries, and very hard to obtain by chemical synthesis- and outstanding performances will be obtained through biocatalysis, using recombinant microbial cells.

Main results: the production of active compound-rich fractions was demonstrated to be possible from complex olive leaf extracts containing these compounds. The formulations increased the olive leaf compounds’ solubility and showed good stability at different temperatures and in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Additionally, the production of new molecules derived from those present in olive leaf extracts has been demonstrated to be affordable.

The road towards market applications

In this stage, the olive leaf extracts that are available so far have been assessed for their solubility, and large concentration ranges have been applied in various experiments. For application in cosmetics, extracts were encapsulated in different formulation trials.

Main results: partners agree that thus far, there appear to be promising health benefits from various olive leaf extracts. However, there is still more to come and more to learn in the upcoming months.

OLEAF4VALUE impact assessment, regulatory & consumer considerations

In this stage, ZER0-E has been working on the development of the life cycle cost analysis and life cycle assessment of the multi-valorisation routes of the olive leaf defined in the project.

Main results: partners involved in this stage have delivered the first interim report related to regulatory, legal, and beyond-legal limitations for the olive leaf industry.

Ensuring the impact of the project’s results and developments

Along with technological developments, the consortium also implemented strategies to maximise the project’s impact and conducted research on key bioeconomy market sectors, potential business models, and value chains. In parallel, the intermediate market reports on key bioeconomy sectors and the intermediate business models and value chain analysis were successfully completed. As a result, partners are now looking at market launching. In addition, they will soon start to create new business models and analyse potential value chains, as well as business plans and exploitation plans liaise with key stakeholders to help guide and inform the partners’ research

Follow OLEAF4VALUE on social media!

Twitter | @oleaf4value

LinkedIn | OLEAF4VALUE

www.oleaf4value.eu

Busy week at Ecomondo for the Transition2BIO and EuBioNet people!

The week started with the speech “Addressing challenges to unlock bio-plastics potential: the contribution of EU-funded projects”, delivered by Susanna Albertini from FVA New Media Research during the Cluster meeting: Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects contributing to the EU Plastics Strategy organized by the European Research Executive Agency (REA), on the 8^th of November, as part of the Glaukos Project and European Bioeconomy Network activities.

Recordings available here.

During the speech two innovative formats were presented:

• Projects2Projects, facilitating collaboration and mutual learning among projects, that was validated in Brussels on the 5^th of October in a workshop organized by the European Bioeconomy Network and the European Commission, involving more than 40 project promoting the circular bioeconomy.
• Projects2Policy format, shortening the gap between EU funded projects and policies, facilitating the awareness and adoption of project’s results. The format is part of a series of workshops organized by Glaukos and Bio-Plastics Europe Projects, involving 49 projects and around 20 Policy Officers from different DGs. The last appointment is foreseen for the next 23th November.

On the 9^th of November, during the conference session “Commit to the Mission Charter to contribute to a healthy “pollution free” MED, organized by Ecomondo Scientific Technical Committee, BlueMed GSOs, Federchimica-PlasticsEurope Italia, Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Susanna Albertini delivered the speech “Experiences from EU funded projects contributing to the Mission Charter for a healthy “pollution free” MED”. During the speech some good practices from Transition2Bio, Biovoices, the European Bioeconomy Network and Glaukos have been presented.

Recordings available here.

The workshop was an important opportunity to learn how Mediterranean projects and initiatives, but also industrial and policy actors, as well as NGOs and citizens can become active “Missioners”, sharing their activities and ambitions to support the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” by adhering to the Mission charter. John Bell, European Commission’s ‘Healthy Planet” Director, delivered a very inspirational talk about the vision and objectives of the Mission.

On 11^th November, Serena Fabbrini from APRE presented the recently funded project GenB, aiming at inspiring, educating, involving and supporting the young generations to become the ambassadors of the circular bioeconomy in the European Commission area dedicated to EU funded projects. The book for kids “What’s Bioeconomy”, produced by the projects BIOVOICES and Transition2Bio was promoted as a good practice to engage the primary school students with these topics.

Finally FVA team, representing Transition2Bio and Glaukos, was involved in the expert focus group “Are Bio-based plastics the future for toy applications?”, organized by Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, in the context of Bio-Plastics Europe project and involving the most relevant stakeholders in bio-plastics and toys, to discuss is Bio-based and biodegradable plastics can be a suitable solution for the toys industry.

AllThings.bioPRO has released a game and an application designed to help people of all ages to improve their sustainable behaviours and become ambassadors for change. The project is now looking for testers.

The term bioeconomy may sound detached and unfamiliar to most, a term for professionals rather than for citizens. However, the bioeconomy is increasingly a part of everyday life. The EU-funded project AllThings.bioPRO has detected this gap and designed a gamification ecosystem to bring people closer to this sector and help them learn in a fun and interactive way. Starting from the inputs collected through the numerous co-creation workshops with children and citizens of all ages, the project has developed a serious game and a smartphone app which should help people get familiar with the bioeconomy.

A game and an application to become bio-heroes.

“Allthings.bioPRO focuses on four key themes that are part of our daily lives: food packaging, fashion & textiles, kids & schools and jobs & careers,” explains the project coordinator, Valerie Sartorius. “The game, the app and an accompanying public communication campaign explain the bioeconomy and its connection to these four topics to citizens in a playful and engaging way”.

The serious game and the smartphone app will not only engage people but can also be used as tools to aggregate their ideas related to the four themes and allow everyone to make a difference in the political agenda of the coming years. The data generated by the game and the app will be useful to policymakers, brand owners and organisations, and the biobased industry.

The game in short.

The game is called Mission BioHero because it’s made of eight campaigns, each focusing on a specific theme that the player must achieve to save the Earth. The campaigns feature activities such as quizzes; real-life tasks to be solved; so-called city-builders, which are mini-games with the goal to turn a city with a non-sustainable value chain into a clean and sustainable city; special skills that award specific abilities and in-game points; and a lexicon summarising important definitions.

Everyone with a mobile phone and over the age of 12 can play Mission BioHero. Players typically include teachers, students, career centres and bioeconomy stakeholders.

The app in short.

The mobile app will be linked to the serious game and can be used in the long term. It’s called Label BioHero because the user can scan (eco-)logos, labels and EU certification schemes and the app provides information on the sustainable performance of the scanned bio-based/bio-degradable product. Specifically, it focuses on non-food, non-energy bio-based products, such as packaging made from bio-based plastics and textiles made from organic cotton.

The (eco-)labels can be scanned or entered manually into the search field. The user then receives information about what the (eco-)label stands for, on which products and product categories it can be found, which aspects it covers, what it guarantees and who owns or operates the label. Labels in the app will be split into six different categories:

1. bio-based content
2. sustainability of forestry biomass
3. textiles products
4. end-of-life (what happens at the end of the product lifetime, such as biodegradability)
5. multi-issue (labels that cover more than one environmental aspect, e.g. Blue Angel))
6. others (labels that are not directly related to bio-based or biodegradable products, as they deal with topics such as fair trade or recycling).

Take part in the change.

The project is now looking for people to test the user experience and they can contact Ms. Maria Khrapunenko: maria.khrapunenko@ibs.ee

The EU conference “Bioeconomy – Enabling the European Green Deal in Challenging Times” took place on 6 and 7 October in Brussels. With around 1000 participants discussing the findings of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy Progress Report, the conference has set the tone for the next steps of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy!

The European Bioeconomy Network was invited by the EC to facilitate the collaboration among projects and initiatives in the dedicated EuBioNet corner where the posters with the outcomes of the “Projects2Projects” workshop were presented.

Transition2BIO played a great role during the Conference, distributing around 1000 copies of the book for kids “What’s Bioeconomy?”, in 10 different languages. The participants expressed their enthusiasm for the book that was presented also during a speech delivered by Chiara Pocaterra, coordinator of Transition2BIO and co-autor with Susanna Albertini of the book. The speech highlighted the importance of involving young generations to grow future citizens and decision-makers aware and interested on the circular bioeconomy.