SABANA aims at developing a large-scale integrated microalgae-based biorefinery for the production of biostimulants, biopesticides and feed additives, in addition to biofertilizers and aquafeed, using only marine water and nutrients from wastewaters (sewage, centrate and pig manure). The objective is to achieve a zero-waste process at a demonstration scales up to 5 ha sustainable both environmentally and economically. A Demonstration Centre of this biorefinery will be operated to demonstrate the technology, assess the operating characteristics of the system, evaluate environment impacts and collaborate with potential customers for use. The key advantages of SABANA project are: the sustainability of the process, using marine water and recovering nutrients from wastewaters while minimizing the energy consumption, and the socioeconomic benefits, due to the relevance of the target bioproducts for two major pillars in food production as agriculture and aquaculture. Bioproducts capable of increasing the yield of crops and fish production are highly demanded, whereas recovery of nutrients is a priority issue in the EU. Instead of considering wastewater as an inevitably useless and problematic residue of our society, SABANA acknowledges its potential as an opportunity for economically relevant sectors. SABANA project includes (i) the utilization of microalgae-bacteria consortia and in co-culture with other algae to control grazing species, (ii) the implementation of efficient thin-layer cascade and raceway, (iii) the scale-up of reactors to ensure stable operation, (iv) to use marine water to increase the sustainability of the process; (v) to recover nutrients from wastewaters, (vi) to develop harvesting processes taking into account the remaining water, (vii) to establish processes for mild/energy efficient extraction of bioproducts, (viii) to process residual biomass to produce biofertilizers and aquafeed in zero-waste schemes, (ix) using robust and sustainable technology

The BIOSMART project proposal has the ambition to develop active and smart bio-based and compostable packages addressing the needs of fresh and pretreated food applications. Moreover, the novel packaging system will form the basis for tailoring performance and functionality to specific flexible and rigid food packages in diverse market segments. A holistic ecosystem approach is pursued by offering solutions that bring enhanced performance and acceptable economics to the value chain and facilitate implementation and large-scale commercialization. Critical issues that differentiate the present packages from the future all-bio-based and compostable ones are enhanced active and smart functionalities that make possible: light weighting, reduced food residues, shelf life monitoring and longer shelf life, easier consumer waste handling, and all this at a competitive cost to the incumbent. The BIOSMART project proposal develops thus encompasses an approach for selectively integrating superhydrophobic surfaces, microencapsulated phase change materials, barrier coatings, sensoring devices, and new bio-active antimicrobial and antioxidants, into all-bio-based multilayer flexible plastic packages. Three generic packaging systems are selected with specific performance needs as defined by current multi-material (eg. pouches, terrines and cardboard/thin film tray). The associate life cycle assessments for the different possible scenarios include the economic feasibility. Ultimately, this consolidated knowledge is captured in a material selection and packaging performance simulation App. through optimization of all possible variables to meet selected key performance indicators (KPI).

Pro-Enrich will develop a flexible biorefinery approach capable of processing a range of agricultural residues (rapeseed meal, olives, tomatoes and citrus fruits) in response to the increasing global demand for alternative sources of protein and phenolic product streams, tailored to the cross sectoral requirements of industry. Pro-Enrich will optimise existing biomass fractionation technologies and validate novel extraction approaches beyond the current state of the art (from TRL2 through to TRL 4/5) to isolate and purify proteins, polyphenols, dietary fibres and pigments. The products being targeted are food ingredients, pet food, cosmetics and adhesives. These will be developed through an iterative process of feedstock mapping, laboratory process development, functionality/performance testing of samples by industry and pilot upscaling. Pro-Enrich gathers the expertise of 16 partners from 7 countries, covering the entire biorefinery value chain and consisting of 8 SMEs, 5 large enterprises, 2 RTOs and 1 university. The project facilitates supply chain building across different sectors, including biomass production and logistics; materials handling and processing, through to end-users. The project will engage and collaborate with key industry stakeholders from farming and biomass supply, processors and brand name owners. Pro-Enrich produces detailed life-cycle, socio-economic and safety assessments to facilitate policy and decision-making by industry and the EU, inform and guide consumer acceptance and assist with regulatory compliance. The outcome of Pro-Enrich will have a huge economical impact on the involved partners especially the industries and generate a large number of new job positions. However, the impact goes beyond the consortium by contributing to the BBI’s strategy for zero-waste processing in the biobased products sector, by addressing technical, commercial and environmental impact across the whole supply chain.