Several studies have identified 3 main waste streams that are the most promising for being valorised to obtain bio-based fertilisers (BBFs): (1) manure, (2) sewage sludge, and (3) food chain waste. From these, manure is the largest waste stream, representing more than 70% of the nutrients, but several studies have been conducted in the last 10 years aimed at its valorisation as BBF and have shown that it is a feasible feedstock for obtaining N-rich streams and organic amendments that can be used directly as BBF, but most of them are not suitable to be used as ingredients for centralised high quality fertiliser production due to the presence of pollutants such as heavy metals (mainly Zn and Cu) and organic matter. Sewage sludge and food chain waste have not yet been deeply investigated at the levels required for industrial implementation, such that their fertilising potential is still under-exploited. The ReLEAF project is based on the advancement and widespread demonstration (in 5 technology demonstration sites) of a suite of extraction techniques to produce key BBF ingredients from waste streams prevalent across Europe – sewage sludge, fish processing waste and wastewater, mixed food waste, and agri-food residues. The formulation and production (in 2 sites) of cost-effective BBFs will address the serious issues of externalities (i.e., dependency on foreign supply chains (P and K), and petroleum-based resources (N)) from fertiliser production and use in European soils together with security of supply and waste valorisation. Investigations of the effectiveness and replicability of the BBFs within the varying climate conditions and soil ecosystems of 4 different field demonstration sites, in addition to co-creation activities, will allow for regional engagement with stakeholders to promote widespread acceptance, while industrial involvement will facilitate a rapid scale up and industrialisation of proposed technologies.

Aiming at increasing farmers’ income and to be fully aligned with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) while addressing also Green Deal and Bioeconomy Strategy objectives, BRILIAN will support the adoption of sustainable cooperative business models in rural areas. These business models will enhance rural development, biodiversity preservation and climate-neutrality. For that, BRILIAN will implement a multi-actor approach for the validation of a group of Actions for the Bio Innovation (ABI) both at macro and micro level. The Actions for the Bio-Innovation are ABI 1. Forging robust rural bio-communities. ABI 2. Achieving circularity and sustainability. ABI 3. Integration of short supply chains and ABI 4. Production of value-added bioproducts. Therefore, BRILIAN innovations will allow primary producers to diversify their incomes while reducing risks. These ABI will be particularized for 3 pilots in Italy, Spain and Denmark. Within these pilots, a set of business models will be enhanced and tested for the validation of 10 value chains. 6 in Italy, 2 in Spain and 2 in Denmark. BRILIAN pilots will make use of existing rural infrastructures but implementing adaptations to the current main processes and contractual agreements between actors. To strength that, business model design aproaches will be supported by modules dealing with logistic, organizational and sustainability factors weighted in the BRILIAN optimization toolkit, a toolkit based on complex models which will provide support for the design and optimization of biobased value chains, putting primary producers in the centre. As a result, BRILIAN will set long-term strategies for the adoption of cooperative business models in EU, facilitated by the generation of 11 key exploitable results during the project, including Technical, Socioeconomic, Policy & regulation and Academic ones. The implementation of such an ambitious project requires of a consortium of 13 partners with 11 BIC members.

BIOCOMPLACK is a biobased, biodegradable and compostable food packaging with enhances barrier properties. BIOCOMPLACK is a food biopackaging with three main points of innovation: the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), the multilayer structure and the PLA biopolymer reinforced with organoclays which contain natural food preservatives. These three innovations will enhance the barrier properties to oxygen (more than 100 times compared with common biopackaging) and water vapour as well as will improve the shelf-life of food. BIOCOMPLACK is an alternative to common bio-packaging products that enhances 300% the shelf-life of food. This international project is born in a consortium integrated by two large enterprises (Sapici and Goglio), two small-medium enterprises (SMEs) (NaturePlast and Tecnopackaging) and a research institution (Packlab, University of Milan) from four different countries which together cover the supply chain of the food packaging industry. BIOCOMPLACK will have strong impact in the society and in the environment. BIOCOMPLACK will be an eco-friendly packaging from natural renewable sources instead of fossil fuels, will reduce the plastic packaging waste thanks to its biodegradability in the nature and will generate at the end of its useful life an added value product, the compost (to improve the quality of soils and provide nutrients). Our BIOCOMPLACK solution will provide a loop cycle of sustainability. European Union will be also impacted by BIOCOMPLACK because it will make a substantial contribution to innovation in the European economy, will reduce the import of biopackaging from outside the EU and we will export at international level. This consortium will also be benefited by bringing into the market the BIOCOMPLACK food packaging in 36 months. The profitability of the project presents for the first 5 years a ROI of 2.47 and the pay-back of the project will be achieved after 2 years and 9 months after the beginning of the commercialization

The TERRIFIC project will demonstrate at TRL 8 bio-based, circular flagship solutions for improved properties packaging applications, fulfilling the superior requirements in terms of performance along their entire supply value chain while improving circularity and resource efficiency. To do so, 6 ambitious specific objectives have been selected: - Implement a first-of-its kind multipurpose biorefinery for the obtaining of biobased building blocks including 1,4-bioBDO, and C18-DCA at TRL 8 and demonstrate its replicability - Successfully Produce of biopolyesters and biomaterials with RRM > 95% and improved properties (barrier and durability) at TRL 8 including 1,4-bioBDO, C18-DCA from the multipurpose biorefinery - Develop biobased, recyclable, compostable and high-performing flagship packaging products by means of traditional industrial technologies - Demonstrate the sustainability, circularity and safety of the biobased materials developed for the flagship packaging products with respect to existing fossil or bio-based benchmarks - Improve circularity and resource efficiency through the validation of multiple end-of-life scenarios for the developed Flagship products - Evaluate and demonstrate the replicability of the TERRIFIC concept through a multi-actor approach to create an interactive innovation model for engagement of all the actors in the value chain in the exploitation of new business opportunities TERRIFIC is a multidisciplinary project engaging 19 partners from 9 countries covering the whole value chain (including 6 SMEs). An implementation plan is presented in the form of 7 work packages, 5 of which are technical in nature. Synergy in communication and dissemination by the several partners and stakeholders (including a multiactor interest group) will maximize the project progress and impact. Solutions to overcome the barriers as well as appropriate deliverables, tasks, milestones, and risks to complete the project objectives in due time are presented.

CIRC-PACK project aims at more sustainable, efficient, competitive, less fossil fuel dependence, integrated and interconnected plastic packaging value chain. To this end, three case studies will work in developing, testing and validating better system-wide economic and environmental outcomes by i) decoupling the chain from fossil feedstocks, (ii) reducing the negative environmental impact of plastic packaging; and (iii) creating an effective after-use plastics economy. All in all, the work will be supported by non-technological analysis and advanced methodological analysis (including circular economy and industrial symbiosis principles) which will trigger a broadly deployment of the tested solutions. CIRC-PACK project will provide breakthrough biodegradable plastics using alternative biobased raw materials, which will have an instrumental role to play in the subsequence steps of the plastic value chain. In addition, eco-design packaging for improving and end-of-life multilayer and multicomponent packaging will be technologically advanced and adapted also to the new materials produced. Thus these developments will also contribute with a great impact in the packaging footprint, and increasing the biobased content and using compostable materials. Lastly, a multi-sectorial cascaded approach along plastic packaging value chain will be applied with critical impacts in other value chains beyond the targeted plastic packaging value chain. The overall outcome of the project will facilitate the transition from the current linear plastic packaging value chain to circular economy principles.