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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AgroCycle (Sustainable techno-economic solutions for the agricultural value chain)

Teaser

Summary

Europe is generating 1.3 billion tonnes of waste annually, of which 700 million tonnes are agricultural waste. Given the projected one third increase in world population by 2050, best estimates indicate a need to increase agricultural & food production by two thirds by 2050 to feed an additional 2 billion people. This need is compounded by the impacts of climate change, particularly in more impoverished areas of the world where desertification is predicted to increase, & water shortages will become a major constraint on production. The above challenges present a major opportunity for innovative technologies & profitable business practices to address the utilisation of agricultural wastes, by-products and co-products. AgroCycle will perform an integrated analysis of the agricultural value chain, incl. livestock & crop production, food processing & retail sector, delivering mechanisms to achieve a 10% increase in the recycling & valorisation of agricultural waste by 2020, maximising the use of by-products and co-products via the creation of new sustainable value chains.

In pursuit of its aim to achieve a 10% increase in the recycling & valorisation of agricultural waste by 2020, the main objective of the AgroCycle project is to further develop, demonstrate & validate novel processes, practices & products for the sustainable use of agricultural waste, co-products and by-products (AWCB). The main innovations of the project include:
o Understanding & mapping the agri-food waste streams, including implications for the sustainability of agricultural systems, & elucidating the various valorisation pathways with their high-value products
o Optimised design and operation of multi-feedstock biofuels production systems (increasing biofuel yields).
o Optimised bio-fertilisers production & use
o Development of a novel technologies for the valorisation & reuse of nutritionalwastewaters from the agri-food processing industries
o Development of an integrated phyto-remediation reactor for the valorisation of livestock effluents
o Development of novel N and P selective bio-adsorbents for livestock effluent remediation
o Integrated, flexible multi-feedstock extraction of proteins, fibres & secondary plant metabolites (SPMs) from horticultural waste
o Application of the extracted bio-compounds in packaging, adhesives & coating applications
o Valorisation of rice bran into nutraceuticals & pharmaceutical products
o Full value chain analysis (and development of new business models for the agricultural sectors & for the wine/horticultural & fruit/arable-grassland including farm, processing & retail)
o Implementation of a multi-actor joint stakeholder platform for knowledge exchange

Work performed

The work carried within the reporting period to achieve the objectives of each WP is as follows:
WP1 (Agricultural Waste Value Chain Assessment)
The most common European agricultural commodities (26 in total) were identified & the AWCB of each characterised.
Data quality guidelines for the collection & processing of AWCB data were created.
The impact that removing AWCBs from agricultural systems & the logistics involved were assessed.
A legislative framework was created based on current EU & national AWCB valorisation legislation.
A report was created on the policy support activities & existing technologies for the valorisation of Chinese AWCBs.

WP2 (Biofuels Production)
A chicken manure Dry AD & pre-processing technology was installed, commissioned & is currently being optimised.
Pre-treatment techniques were created to increase bioethanol production from lignocellulosic AWCBs.
Increased biobutanol production from increased AWCB lignocellulosic degradation was assessed for various acidic- and alkaline- pre-treatments.
Different grassland samples were analysed at lab scale with various AWCB mixes to assess biogas potential
Fast pyrolysis was employed to maximise the creation of liquid biofuels (bio-oil) & soil fertilisers (biochar) from lignocellulosic AWCBs.
Air-cathode MFCs were commissioned to generate bioelectricity from AD digestates as well as industrial wastewaters.

WP3 (Fertiliser Production)
Numerous waste stream-extracted Biofertilisers (BF) were evaluated for their C & N mineralization dynamics.
The agronomic & environmental impacts of selected BFs were assessed on Zucchini-, lettuce-, winter oat-, wheat- and Rice-test crops.

WP4 (Agricultural Wastewater Exploitation & Treatment)
Membrane-based lab-scale technologies were assessed & optimised for the extraction of polyphenols & single cell proteins(SCP) from an array of fruit processing wastewater samples
A lab-scale two-stage anaerobic/aerobic MBR pilot system that produced biogas & recovered nutrients from fruit processing waste waters was commissioned.
A decision matrix support system was created to identify the optimal lab scale bioreactor for the bioremediation of pig slurry.
Six different bio-based materials (AWCB) were assessed for their ability to bio-adsorb P & N.

WP5 (Biowaste valorisation into high value products)
Techniques for the extraction of proteins, phenolic-compounds & fibres from potato wastes were created.
Potato fruit juice proteins & rice bran oils (RBO) were assessed for their bio-plasticiser potentials.
Potato pulp was assessed as a biocomposite filler.
Chemical- & nutraceutical-analysis were performed on different rice brans, from which novel bakery recipes were created.

WP6 (Life Cycle Assessment & Life Cycle Costing)
A methodology to assess life cycle sustainability was developed.

WP7 (Knowledge platform & training)
The basic architecture for a JSP platform & a script that will allow the inventory from WP1 to be inserted into the platform database, has been developed.
Consistent training modules (focused on the youth) that will work in both Europe & China are being created.
Stakeholders have been engaged at numerous events.

WP8 (Sustainable value chains & business models)
Models developed in WP1 as well as additional analyses carried out by partners, were used to identify the sustainability of new value chains.
The proceedings from the Stakeholder Worksop on Agricultural Production Systems & Sustainable Value Chains, was published.

WP9 (Innovation Impacts)
The project website, a Twitter, Facebook & Linkedln profile were created.
An internal project management & document sharing platform was created.
Numerous applications to both national & international funding calls using both AgroCycle & non-AgroCycle consortia, were made.

Final results

A key contribution that this project will make to the environmental and societal impacts is that of decoupling agriculture and industry growth and competitiveness from environmental impact. The economic development aspirations of our private industry sector are entirely compatible with reducing the impacts of climate change, increasing energy security and ecological diversity in a green economy.
AgroCycle aims to equip industry with the technologies and knowhow to turn challenges in relation to reduced margins, resource efficiency and sustainability, into business opportunities through the development of innovative applications of AWCB, and the creation of new sustainable value chains, which will have a major impact on the competitiveness of the EU and international agriculture, food and bio-refinery industries, as well as on rural development through bio-refinery establishment and active participation in the global industrial business chain.