Category: Standardisation, LCA, labelling and regulatory hurdles

HarWASTing project

HarWASTing project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 28/02/2029

VALORISATION OF HARVESTED AGROFORESTRY BIOMASS WASTE AS FEEDSTOCK FOR VALUE-ADDED BIO-BASED SOLUTIONS AS A GREEN DEVELOPMENT PATHWAY

HarWASTing aims to develop innovative business models based on circular economy (CE) principles to promote bioeconomy in rural areas, by implementing a set of scalable and replicable technological solutions to efficiently exploit underutilised biomass from forestry and agriculture to develop innovative and high-value products. These models will support sustainable management practices and will promote an efficient use of natural resources, reducing overall waste generation and post-harvest losses by implementing valorisation processes and fostering CE principles.
To this end, a methodology will be implemented to collect, treat and revalorize biomass from forest and agricultural harvest, pruning waste and bioethanol process side-streams, respecting the cascade principle for biomass use. A one-fits all technology, Hydrothermal Carbonization, for a higher energy efficient treatment of lignocellulosic biomass residues will be combined with Pressurized Hot Water Extraction and innovative post-treatment technologies, to develop high value added products and avoid any non-valorised side-stream. The whole concept will be demonstrated at small-scale pilot, built-upon existing wood, food and bioenergy value chains to further strengthen their economic and environmental sustainability through synergistic interlinkages between them. Mediterranean, Boreal and Continental bioregions will be studied.
The holistic concept is based on the central valorisation route of Hydrothermal Carbonization and its solid product, hydrochar, that is converted into hybrid wood-hydrochar panels with less than 10% of bio-adhesive for special applications such as fire protection or electromagnetic shielding. A novel support AI-based digital tool for forecasting agroforest feedstock availability will be developed. Innovative digital passports will help to commercialize the panels and bio-adhesives. The hydrochar will be offered on a new digital platform which also serves for networking and for publishing of best-practices.

Contact:

Irene Beleña: ibelena@aidimme.es

website: https://harwasting.eu/

SYMBA project

SYMBA project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/12/2026

Securing local supplY chains via the development of new Methods to assess the circularity and symbiosis of the Bio-bAsed industrial ecosystem enhancing the EU competitiveness and resource independence.

Within the EU bio-based sector, disjointed information systems perpetuate inefficiencies, resulting in suboptimal value chains and an uneven distribution of economic benefits. This lack of cohesion hampers progress towards a circular economy and sustainable practices. In this context, the EU-funded SYMBA project aims to reshape the narrative by introducing an innovative industrial symbiosis methodology, backed by a user-friendly AI database. Specifically, the project will create a circular economy blueprint for the bio-based sector. Its innovative approach encompasses a user-friendly AI database and aims to enhance local supply chains, benefit stakeholders and elevate the economic value of final products.
The SYMBA project aims at creating a new and innovative IS method to be replicated within EU according to the local/regional bio-based industrial ecosystem. SYMBA will implement a user-friendly and accessible AI database suggesting regional IS innovative processes to create zero-waste value chains, ensuring more local supply chains; a better distribution of economic and social benefits among the stakeholders and an increase in the economic value of final products.
SYMBA solution, aligned with the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, is based on a threefold approach: i) Creation and validation of new IS methodology for the bio-based sector, starting from existing knowledge and lessons earned from SYMBA consortium partners. ii) Individuation of criteria to select regional hubs. iii) AI database including Monitoring tools, waste relation matrix, networking and cooperation with ongoing EU and local networks.
The partnership has been intentionally selected by its expertise, network with key external stakeholders and geographical reach, bringing together 5 EU countries (IT, ES, BE, NL, DE) to consolidate the maximum outreach of the initiative. It consists of 9 partners with complementary competences: 4 RTD centers (CIRCE, CTB, AIMPLAS; CET); 1 large industry (NVMT); 1 pilot facility (BBEPP); 1 innovative SME (ENCO) and 2 networks (CKIC and ICLEI) with a valuable background in applying IS approach in the bio-based sector, providing services to companies and creating awareness and networking among citizens, policy makers, EU initiatives. Through the involvement of different industrial sectors: agri-food (NVMT); packaging (AIMPLAS); wastewater (CET); textile (CTB); waste valorisation (BBEPP), SYMBA will demonstrate how to shift from a linear to a circular economy contributing to deliver bio-based solutions with reduced environmental impacts on soil, water and air quality.

Contact:

Antonietta Pizza: pizza@enco-consulting.it

website: https://www.symbaproject.eu/

CIRCULAR BIOCARBON project

CIRCULAR BIOCARBON project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/05/2027

Turning urban waste streams into added-value products

CIRCULAR BIOCARBON presents a first-of-a-kind flagship biorefinery designed to valorise the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) and Sewage Sludge (SS) into high-added-value end and intermediate products, including coating of direct consumer products, coating of mechanical moving parts, coating of plastic moulding tools, biodegradable and compostable waste bags, green graphene-based devices and products, biodegradable soil mulch films, solid organomineral fertiliser with biostimulant properties and liquid biobased biostimulant.

Contact:

Cristina Garcia-Vera (Project Coordinator): info@circularbiocarbon.eu

website: https://circularbiocarbon.eu/

CheMatSustain project

CheMatSustain project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/12/2027

IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENTS OF CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS PARTICULARLY AT NANO LEVEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

CheMatSustain is a research initiative, funded by the Horizon Europe Programme of the European Union. Spanning for a 48-month period, our consortium comprises 10 scientific partners from 7 EU countries, alongside collaboration with 1 esteemed UK Associate Partner and lead by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.
At CheMatSustain, we recognize the transformative potential of nanotechnology and the significance of Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) strategies in ensuring the safety and sustainability of nanomaterials and nanotechnology. Thus, the project envisions a future where innovative methods for safety and sustainability assessments of chemicals and materials, especially at the nano level, play a pivotal role in achieving a climate-neutral, circular economy continent. Through collaboration, research, and innovation, we strive to pave the way for a brighter, greener future for generations to come.

Contact:

Dr. Jelena Barbir: info@chematsustain.eu

website: https://chematsustain.eu/

 Bio4HUMAN project

 Bio4HUMAN project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Identifying bio-based solutions for waste management applicable to humanitarian sector

As the solid waste management crisis is growing in its urgency, humanitarian aid practitioners are faced with the question of how to manage environmental challenges linked with aid that is being shipped across various humanitarian settings. One of the sound solutions how to address this challenge is to open up a streamline of cooperation between humanitarian aid operators and the bio-based sector allowing them to explore the application potential of bio-based products, systems, and innovative technological solutions. Bio4HUMAN aims to contribute to the identification of bio-based solutions for solid waste management that have the potential to be applicable in various humanitarian settings. To achieve this goal, Bio4HUMAN will conduct a scoping exercise that will come up with a list of solutions but also identify existing supply chain gaps. Following that, it performs life cycle assessments of the proposed solutions and evaluates their applicability with regard to socio-economic and governance aspects. To explore if solutions fit the purpose of key solid waste management stakeholders and to explore the possibility of their acceptance by the community, local businesses, and local authorities, Bio4HUMAN conducts a feasibility evaluation process in 2 African locations. Simultaneously, the project will develop a replication roadmap that will contribute to the future replicability of the solutions identified. Altogether, all of the Bio4HUMAN’s actions will help to improve ways of addressing waste management challenges under humanitarian contexts and to the reduction of waste littered in the environment. In the long run, Bio4HUMAN is expected to contribute to the development of innovative and sustainable value chains that will benefit consumers and citizens in Europe and beyond.

Contact:

Andrea Motola: Andrea.ratkosova@enspire-science.com

website: https://bio4human.eu/

Brilian project

Brilian project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/05/2027

Cooperative business models for bio-based chains in rural areas

BRILIAN has been conceived to support the adoption of circular and sustainable cooperative business models in rural areas and enable a better transition to bio-based economies, playing a pivotal role in revitalizing these regions and fostering sustainable economic and social development, making primary producers active actors of the supply chain.

BRILIAN will implement a multi-actor approach for the validation of a group of Actions for the Bio Innovation, seeking to:

  1. Forge robust rural bio-communities
  2. Increase circularity and sustainability
  3. Promote the integration of short supply chains
  4. Produce value-added bioproducts

These Actions for the Bio Innovation will validate ten bio-based value chains starting from cardoon, safflower, and sunflower (in Italy), potato (in Spain), and rapeseed (in Denmark) as raw materials and will develop sustainable and circular business models encompassing a wide range of high-value-added bio-products, such as bioplastics, biolubricants, proteins, bioadhesives, bioherbicides, products for animal feed or the cosmetic sector. This will allow primary producers to diversify their income while reducing risk.

BRILIAN is an ambitious four-year project with a budget exceeding 6 million euros, co-financed by the Circular Bio-Based Europe (CBE) joint initiative under the European program for innovation and research ‘Horizon Europe 2021-2027’ (HE). The project involves 13 entities from 6 different countries: Spain, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Greece, including 3 large companies, 3 SMEs, 3 research organizations, 2 clusters, and 2 associations.

Contacts:

Olga de Blas (D&C Area): Odeblas@clusterfoodmasi.es
Maider Gómez (Project coordinador): mgomez@fcirce.es

website: https://brilian.eu/

P2GreeN project

P2GreeN project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 30/11/2026

Closing the gap between fork and farm for circular nutrient flows

Converting human sanitary waste into bio-based fertilisers Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisers are important for plant growth. However, excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment result in pollution of the air and water. The EU-funded P2GreeN project will develop new circular governance solutions for the fork-to-farm framework to eliminate N & P pollution. The project will focus on circular nutrient flows of N & P by connecting the blue urban with the green rural infrastructures. P2GreeN will implement and demonstrate innovative N & P recovery solutions based on human sanitary waste from urban settlements and its conversion into safe bio-based fertilisers for agricultural production. The project will test the solutions in three pilot regions on a north-south trajectory

Anita Beblek, Project coordinator, agrathaer: anita.beblek@agrathaer.de

website: https://p2green.eu/

PRIMED project

PRIMED project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/12/2026

Redesigning the Primary Sector for Maximizing Bioeconomy Development

The PRIMED Project PRIMED will co-create innovative forms of cooperation to integrate primary producers in novel bioeconomy value chains with a multi-actor approach. To do so, PRIMED will develop novel CBMB to produce high-value bio-based products through advanced biorefineries and will demonstrate them in five Living Labs (LLab) where end users can access to finance through open calls. PRIMED will also empower multi-actors to co-design a collaborative ecosystem to accelerate the bioeconomy, with an Open Access knowledge hub and toolkit (PRIMED digital toolbox).

Peuker Steinhäuser Vivian: vivian.peukersteinhaeuser@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

website: https://www.primed-project.eu

INNOPROTEIN project

INNOPROTEIN project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/05/2027

New Sustainable Proteins For Food, Feed And Non-Food Bio-Based Applications

By 2050, with the global population expected to reach 10 billion, producing sustainable, high-quality protein becomes a pressing environmental, economic, and social challenge. The EU’s “protein gap”, importing 70 % of protein-rich crops and 90 % of soybeans, adds urgency to the quest for new, nutritious, and eco-friendly protein sources that cater to diverse markets.
InnoProtein will deliver new products for food, feed and non-food based applications that meet end-users’ needs and expectations. By using under-exploited and unexplored protein sources, including microalgae, fungi, bacteria and insects together with new advanced techniques for protein extraction, the project will contribute to reducing the EU protein gap and the pressure on natural resources.
The experienced consortium will provide an eco-business model, proving the economic availability of the solution and the social and environmental benefits. To improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the protein extraction, InnoProtein will adopt a circular and zero waste approach by using the residual biomass and the streams of protein production processes to obtain bioplastics and biostimulants.

Giacomo Sini: giacomo.sini@eufic.org

website: https://www.innoprotein.eu/

 BIORADAR project

 BIORADAR project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Monitoring system of the environmental and social sustainability and circularity of industrial bio-based systems

BioRadar project aim to help organizations, policy-makers and investors have the necessary information to step towards a more sustainable bio-based economic model with an information and self-assessment platform for bio-based industries.BioRadar proposes the simple, objective, and quantitative Bio-based systems Transition Indicators (BTI) framework. The project develops a one-stop digital solution including AI-benchmarking and analytics platform, a flexible and user-friendly self-assessment tool, a regulatory tracker tool, and an innovative multidimensional performance measurement scorecard. The framework and digital tools allow industries, investors, and policymakers to assess the circularity, environmental sustainability, and social aspects of bio-based products and services with just a few clicks.

Emad Yaghmaei: ey@yaghma.nl

Shiva Noori: sn@yaghma.nl

website: http://www.bioradar.org/