ValueWaste

UNLOCKING NEW VALUE FROM URBAN BIOWASTE

On average, each European citizen produces approximately 200 kg of municipal biowaste per year, representing between 118 and 138 million tonnes of biowaste annually. Many European municipal biowaste management systems currently existing represent one-way flow systems in which materials and resources are underused, limiting their potential recovery into high-value products. The VALUEWASTE project proposes an integrated approach to urban biowaste upcycling for the production of high-value biobased products, developing the first complete solution to fully valorize biowaste that can be replicated across Europe.

The consortium will implement three new value chains that will use urban biowaste as raw material for its valorization into high-value end-products in a cascading process, generating economic, social and environmental benefits: food & feed proteins, other food & feed ingredients and biobased fertilizer.

• food and feed ingredients (proteins, peptides, fats and nucleic acids) from methanotrophic bacteria using biomethane arising from the anaerobic digestion of the biowaste.
• food and feed grade protein from insect (black soldier fly) larvae fed with biowaste and/or digestate (from anaerobic digestion of urban biowaste)
• biobased fertiliser (struvite/ammonium sulfate blend) with nutrients recovered from the residual dewatering liquid (from anaerobic digestion).

The project will be developed at two very different European locations, Murcia in Spain and Kalundborg in Denmark, with the purpose of finding a solution both technically and socially adapted to the different socioeconomic contexts existing across Europe. Social initiatives will be created to raise consumer awareness and acceptance of urban biowaste-derived products. End-user product applications and new market opportunities will be demonstrated.

To see more details, visit project website: www.valuewaste.eu