Agro-food and Paper mill side streams and by-products are sources of unexploited organic fractions exploitable into safe microbial biomasses, functional ingredients and intermediates, e.g. prebiotics, pre-fermented ingredients, bioplastics and chemicals. The INGREEN bio-based ingredients/materials will be used to produce innovative functional products for food, feed, packaging, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic sectors. The INGREEN outcomes will be obtained by validated tailor made biotechnologies based on safe microorganisms or eco-friendly approaches. Logistics and storage conditions will be optimized to favor the flow from feedstock to the bio-based prototype producers. INGREEN aims to demonstrate in industrial environments the efficiency and sustainability of the target biotechnologies to produce i) lactobionic acid (LBA), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), microbial safe biomasses from whey; ii) polyhydrohyalkanoates (PHA) enriched biomasses and purified PHA, as prebiotics and bioplastics respectively, from paper mill wastewater; iii) functional pre-fermented ingredients from rye/wheat milling fractions. Safe and characterized INGREEN ingredients will be used for innovative functional cheeses, bakery products and nutritious feeds. Functional GOS, LBA and pre-fermented bran will be used to produce prebiotic immune-stimulating gel, nutraceutical supplement and cleanser for human health. INGREEN biodegradable material will be valorised into bag in box to boost INGREEN fluid prototype sustainability. Prototype safety, shelf-life, quality and functional performances will be compared to benchmarks. Also LCA/LCC, sound business cases and plans and compliance with REACH and any relevant EU safety legislation will be applied over the whole project to assess prototype benefits compared to benchmarks. INGREEN product specifications will contribute to define/standardize the regulatory requirements for outcome innovation deals, market uptake and societal acceptance.

The RUSTICA projects provides a technical solution to convert organic residues from the fruit and vegetable sector into novel bio-based fertiliser products of high quality that address the needs of modern (organic) agriculture. The project’s ambition goes beyond the simple recovery of nutrients, and also includes the developments of economically viable and environmentally sustainable alternatives to mineral fertilisers with the same or improved agronomic value. The technical solution consists of 5 conversion processes (carboxylic acid platform, microbial biomass production, electrodialysis, insect breeding and biochar production) which can be combined depending on the available waste streams, and integrated with state-of-the-art technologies such as composting. Synergies between the individual conversion processes will be sought and optimized to maximize economic and environmental benefits, and the processes will be demonstrated at TRL7. The resulting ingredients (microbial biomass, mineral nutrient concentrates, insect biomass, insect frass, insect chitin, biochar) will be combined to obtain tailor made fertiliser products adapted to specific crop needs. Parallel with this technological innovation and integration, a multi-actor approach guarantees the implementation potential of the technologies in the agro-food chain, and will lead to sound business models. Several non-technical aspects (environmental and social LCA, legal framework, expected market developments...) will be evaluated in 4 European regions and 1 region in Colombia. Stakeholder involvement at each step guarantees the development of marketable end-products for the fruit and vegetable sector, with a high replication potential to other agricultural sectors. Cooperation with other EUfunded projects working on nutrient recovery from other waste products will stimulate a joint solution to evolve towards a sustainable and circular fertiliser management to close nutrient cycles within and between regions