According to the FAO, plant diseases cost the global economy around 210€ billion per year, and fungal pathogens destroy at least a third of all food crops annually. Commercial agriculture relies on chemical fungicides for crop protection owing to their easy application and low cost; however, their overuse and misuse have devastating implications for all living systems and the entire ecosystem. Thus, establishing sustainable crop protection strategies is essential for global economic development, environmental protection, and food security. Inspired by superhydrophobic plants, such as lotus and broccoli which exhibit wax crystals on their cuticles, we propose a generic sustainable strategy for passive crop protection against fungal pathogens. Our biomimetic technology, termed SafeWax, relies on bio-derived non-toxic fatty acid-based sprayable formulations which self-assemble into a multifaceted protective coating with anti-adhesive, self-cleaning and antifungal properties. When applied on sensitive crops, which do not naturally exhibit wax crystals, SafeWax will synthetically render their foliage to passively resist pathogens. SafeWax concepts will initially be demonstrated on grapevine, as a relevant model crop of high importance to Europe’s economy, environment and culture, which is highly susceptible to fungal diseases and is the most-frequently treated crop. SafeWax will then be expanded to other sensitive commodity crops. The biodegradable SafeWax coating will not only protect crops from fungal infections but will also be tuned to provide UV radiation filtering, prevent sun damage, as well as facilitate water collection from dew condensation, mitigating inevitable effects of climate change. SafeWax will revolutionize the global fungicides market (valued > 20 billion €), starting from the biofungicide market with a value of 3,2 billion € by 2025.

With a share of 34 %, bio-waste is the largest single component of municipal waste in the EU. Recycling of bio-waste is key for meeting the EU target to recycle 65 % of municipal waste by 2035. Bio-waste can significantly contribute to a more circular economy, delivering valuable soil-improving material and fertiliser as well as biogas, a source of renewable energy. Biochar is a pure, high carbon form of charcoal, obtained through the pyrolysis of biomass, such as bio-waste. Biochar helps regenerate soils by enhancing water-holding capacity, nutrient uptake, soil fertility stimulating microbial activity and diversity and acts as a carbon sink. However, a lack of understanding and evidence of the agronomic benefits and economic returns mean that biochar faces barriers to become a widespread soil improver. Biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) is a renewable energy source. Yet the cost of disposal of its effluents (digestates) reduces profitability and uptake of new AD projects, even though the digestate is rich in nutrients and can be used as a biofertilizer. Research shows that the combination of digestate and biochar creates a biofertilizer with increased fertility, improved stability and excellent soil regeneration properties. Furthermore, biochar could be a powerful additive to enhance microbiological activity in AD plants. The FENIX project will optimise Biochar for different soils using AD digestate. FENIX will demonstrate the agronomic and economic returns of its soil improver in field tests (TRL 8) in three countries in the West and South of Europe. FENIX brings together partners that cover the full value chain and with entrepreneurs that will be ready to take up the project results. Successful completion of the project will contribute to the recovery of abandoned poor soils, increase EU’s soil quality and water retention capacity, climate change mitigation, secure and independent energy supply, and sustainable bio-waste management.