On average, each European citizen produces approximately 200 kg of municipal biowaste per year, representing between 118 and 138 million tonnes of biowaste annually arising in the EU. The main municipal biowaste management systems currently existing in Europe represent one-way flow systems in which materials and resources are underused, limiting its potential recovery into high-value products. VALUEWASTE proposes an integrated approach in urban biowaste upcycling for the production of high-value biobased products, developing the first complete solution to fully valorise biowaste that can be replicated across Europe. We will implement three new value chains that will use urban biowaste as raw material for its valorisation into high-value end products in a cascading process, generating economic, social and environmental benefits: food & feed proteins and other ingredients, and biobased fertiliser. VALUEWASTE will be developed at two very different European locations, Murcia (ES) and Kalundborg (DK) with the purpose of finding a solution both technical and socially adapted to the different socio-economic contexts exiting across Europe. Social initiatives will be created to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of urban biowaste-derived products. End-user products applications and new market opportunities will be demonstrated. Outcomes of the project will contribute to new standardisation, and will be useful information for EU policy makers in terms of waste management and in the adoption of new policies.

BLAZE aims at developing Low cost, Advanced and Zero Emission first-of-a-kind small-to-medium Biomass CHP. This aim is reached by developing bubbling fluidised bed technology integrating high temperature cleaning & conditioning system (IBFBG, that can convert heterogeneous feedstocks in a syngas with zero particulate matter and ultra-low tar and contaminants content), an integrated high temperature gas cleaning approach for HCl and H2S removal and an innovative key component for thermal and chemical integration of solid oxide fuel cell (efficient gas recirculation of the fuel cell anode exhaust to the gasification process via a steam-driven high speed micro-compressor using gas bearing technology). The technology is developed for a CHP capacity range from small (25-100 kWe) to medium (0.1-5 MWe) scale and is characterised by the widest fuel spectrum applicable (forest, agricultural, industrial and municipal waste also with high moisture, ash and contaminants content), high efficiencies (50% electrical versus the actual 20%), low investment (< 4 k€/kWe) and operation (≈ 0.05 €/kWh) costs as well as almost zero gaseous and PM emissions, projecting electricity production cost below 0.10 €/kWh . Gasification, gas cleaning & conditioning and fuel cells will be tested at lab scale and 25 kWe SOFC will be thermally and chemically integrated in 100 kWth IBFBG demonstrating the achievement of new milestones, increasing competitiveness of European industry, energy system reliability and flexibility and biomass plants social acceptance. Process simulations, computer aided design, tests, performance evaluation, risk and safety analysis as well as a technology assessment part covering techno-economic, environmental and overall impact assessments and market studies will be carried out together with a clear dissemination, exploitation and communication plan, that can count on the involvement of the main gasifier, gas conditioning and SOFC European companies and research centres.

Continuing population and consumption growth are driving global food demand, with agricultural activity increasing to keep pace. Europe has a major agricultural waste problem, generating some 700 million tonnes of waste annually. There is an urgent need and huge opportunity to address the efficient use of agricultural wastes, co-products and by-products (AWCB) towards delivering sustainable value chains in the farming and processing sectors. As such, AgroCycle will convert low value agricultural waste into highly valuable products, achieving a 10% increase in waste recycling and valorisation by 2020. This will be achieved by developing a detailed and holistic understanding of the waste streams and piloting a key number of waste utilisation/valorisation pathways. It will bring technologies and systems from ~TRL4 to ~TRL7 within the 3 years of the project. A post-project commercialisation plan will bring commercially promising technologies/systems to TRL8 and TRL9, ensuring AgroCycle will have an enduring impact by achieving sustainable use of AWCB both inside and outside the agricultural sector, leading to the realisation of a Circular Economy. AgroCycle addresses wastes from several agricultural sectors: wine, olive oil, horticulture, fruit, grassland, swine, dairy and poultry. The AgroCycle consortium is a large (25) multi-national group (including China) comprising the necessary and relevant multi-actors (i.e. researchers; companies in the technical, manufacturing, advisory, retail sectors (Large and SMEs); lead users; end users; and trade/producer associations) for achieving the project’s ambitions goals. Farming’s unique regional (rural) location means that AgroCycle will help reduce the EU’s Innovation Divide and address the Regional Smart Specialisation Strategies for each partner country: impact will be Regional with National and International dimensions. The presence of three partners from China ensures international synergies and a global impact.