B-FERST’s main objective is to integrate the valorisation of bio-wastes in agriculture management plans creating anew circular and bio-based value chains considering a bilateral interaction between farming and fertiliser sectors focused on a paradigm shift in the fertiliser value chain with 8 specialised fertilisers. Specialised nutrient mixes are required to achieve a more sustainable management of resources by tailor-made nutrient dosing adapted to farmer systems. The SUSTAINABILITY of B-FERST is based on the reuse of bio-waste to replace non-renewable, non-domestic and energy intensive raw materials: 1) Bio-based solid fertilisers including renewable sources of macronutrients (N,P,K) obtained from 3 by-products streams: i) ashes, as source of P & K from: Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) (sewage sludges), & agri-food such as: slaughterhouse waste, olive & livestock wastes; ii) struvite as source of P & N from WWTP & agro waste (pig slurries), and; iii) compost as source of organic carbon compound, N, P & K from Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste) OFMSW, WWTP & agro waste (manure -livestock-). 2) Biostimulants for soil nutrient improvement from two approaches: selected microbiological strains as Microbial Plant Biostimulant (MPB) or Non-Microbial Plant Biostimulant (NMPB) from cardoon oil meal processing (agricultural by-products) and compost extracts. Bio-degradable coatings based on biopolymers will be used when MPB is added to the fertiliser products to protect the beneficial microorganisms and guaranty their performance. The VIABILITY is based on previous R&D from other RIA projects. The manufacturing process will be demonstrated at a demonstrative industrial scale. Then specialised fertilisers will be performed and validated in 5 crops tests (Spain, Italy, France, Poland and Ukraine) comparing their functionality to that of traditional fertilisers in terms of: sustainable sourcing, logistics, soil and growing conditions, reaching a TRL6

Nowadays, mulching is an essential technique used in agriculture to satisfy the worldwide growing demand for agricultural products. It consists of covering the soil surface in order to modify climate conditions and favouring the crops. Conventional mulch is made of polyethylene plastic with important limitations: the plastic has to be removed after the harvest (time consuming, expensive & 10-20% remaining at soil) and it is difficult to be recycled due to its high contamination by ground, stones or waste, being the most part (45.2%) placed in landfills. Therefore, plastic mulches cause serious problems of environmental and economic concerns. Other developed mulch alternatives are not sufficient: oxodegradable (based on polyethylene, are a risk of accumulation in environment) and biodegradable (do not guarantee total degradation under uncontrolled conditions and they are three times more expensive). There is a market demand to find alternatives. Our innovative product, BIOMULCH, will be a biobased mulch with controlled biodegradation (independent from temperature, humidity and soil conditions) and being cost competitive (€1,100/ha respect to €3,000/ha of polyethylene, €2,078/ha of oxodegradable and €2,150/ha of biodegradable), covering the current agriculture market needs. BIOMULCH will be commercialised as a kit and will guarantee the farmers the complete mulch film biodegradation when is exactly required by them. The mulch film will be fully degraded in a 30-40 days period with our innovative mulching technique. As a result, it is expected an important growth for consortium companies, obtaining a total turnover above €354M in 2018-2022. Also it is expected an important benefit for UE, above 759M euros by 2022, derived from savings for farmers and waste savings. BIOMULCH counts already with letters of support of prestigious companies which are very interested in its business model.

The BioBIVE Consortium is a multidisciplinary 16 members group of universities, research centres and SMEs from 6 different European countries aimed to achieve, as main objective: “the development of bio-based platforms to allow the controlled release of bio-active agents able to control the plant pathogens of horticultural crops helping to decrease the use of chemical pesticides”. The general objective is based on three different bio-based release platforms (bio-plastic mulch, biochar and sprayable mulch) and three bio-active agents (basic substances, microorganisms and marine phenolic compounds),which will be the starting point to achieve the final best formulation. The functionality of these bio-based delivery systems that use substances from natural sources against crop pathogens instead of chemical pesticides must be evaluated in laboratory, greenhouse and environmental conditions, using diverse cropping systems (e.g., carrots, strawberries, tomatoes) and techniques, which are part of the BioBIVE Partners expertise.