AREFLH has a partner on the WASTE4SOIL project “Turning food waste into sustainable soil improvers for better soil health and improved food system”. Waste4Soil aims at developing applicable recycling technical pathways to transform Food Processing Residues (FPR) into improvers, through a circular, system, and multi-actor approach. All food chain actors are involved at the regional level, thereby closing specific loops (nutrients, organic matter, water).
Waste4Soil is exploring innovative ways to convert food processing waste into locally produced soil improvers, addressing two major EU challenges at once: food waste and soil health. The project research team has set up Living Labs - real-life test environments - in seven European countries: Spain, Finland., Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.
The Waste4Soil was present at the European Bioplastic event in Brussels, where the partner ITENE presented the Waste4Soill app. It is a farmers-to-farmers match-making platform for industrial agro waste to turn food waste into sustainable soil improvers.
Its aim is to study the valorization of eight Food Processing Residues (FPR) (e.g., meat, fish, dairy, cereals, olive oil, beverages (wine), fruits and vegetables, and processed food). Seven living labs are deployed in Europe: each living lab installs and checks the project platform and app to put in contact the food processing residues generators with the final end-users of soil improvers (SI).
Data can be introduced in the platform :
- either manually by the waste manager, waste generator and/or farmer
- and/or it can collect information from tailor-made several sensors designed and installed in the living labs. These sensors measure GPS position and other information related with residues degradation in transport.
This approach is circular, systemic, and multi-actor, and it is implemented at the regional level and involves all food chain actors, thereby closing specific loops (nutrients, organic matter, water)
The living labs are being set up in Greece, Finland, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia. Still, the developed methodology will be spread across Europe to improve Food Processing Residues knowledge and transferred to other European regions.
Know more about Waste4Soil
- www.waste4soil.eu
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Twitter @Waste4Soil
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LinkedIn : Waste4Soil Project
- Access all AREFLH articles on the project
This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement Nr. 101112708.