Production of multiple, high -value products from crop and food-processing waste

Agrimax is an EU-funded project that is developing and demonstrating the production of multiple, high-value products from crop and food-processing waste. The project is also developing economically competitive routes to the commercialisation of these products, using flexible, and possibly cooperatively run processing facilities. BackgroundAround one-third of all food produced each year is wasted and a significant proportion of this is at the field and food processing levels. Globally, food and crop waste adds up to economic losses of around $936 billion and is responsible for 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions (FAO). In Europe alone, around 90 million tonnes of food and 700 million tonnes of the crop are wasted every year. Agrimax is a major EU-funded project aimed at addressing this problem by finding value in crop and food processing waste. The project will maximise the EU’s sustainability while providing new biobased compounds for the chemicals, food-packaging and agricultural sectors. Building flexible, multi-feedstock pilot plant processing plantsAgrimax will take the residues and by-products from agricultural crops and process them in two, flexible, multi-feedstock pilot biorefineries, purpose-built for the project. A refinery in Italy will process waste from tomatoes and cereals and another in Spain will do the same for olive and potato waste. The target is to convert 40% of the waste the pilot plants receive into high-value materials. An online joint stakeholder platform that coordinates the provision of waste will help maximise the use of the pilot plants throughout the year and address seasonal and regional fluctuations, thereby maximising efficiency and profitability. Agrimax’s pilot biorefineries will produce a cascade of innovative, waste-based products with superior ‘green’ credentials, including:- Biobased packaging (biobased coatings, biocomposites and ’active’ packaging)- Food ingredients (natural additives and functional food products with health benefits)- Biobased agricultural products (fertilisers and biodegradable mulching films and pots) Agrimax will work with end users from the chemical, food-packaging and agricultural sectors to test the quality and performance of these new products.European Research and Innovation DaysNext 25, 25 and 25 September 2019 Agrimax will be part of the European Research and Innovation Days, Science is Wonderful Exhibtion! The picture shows Ingrid Agullo, IRTA researcher, explaining the Work Packages related to the real world validation of the new products. More information