In Agro2Circular, we have identified and mapped food and vegetable wastes that contain valuable substances (fibres and antioxidants) that can replace primary raw materials in food and cosmetic formulations. We have developed two environmentally friendly extraction routes to extract these valuable substances, which have been tested in food and cosmetic formulations by the end users involved in the project. Agro2Circular has also worked on two novel bioprocesses to upcycle high-sugar fruit & vegetable waste, involving PHBV-producing microorganisms and yeast to obtain PHBV biodegradable plastic and microbial oil, respectively, that could be used in packaging and as an ingredient by the food and cosmetic industry. 

The Agro2Circular project is focused on developing solutions with a systemic approach, covering and evaluating the technical, social, environmental, economic and regulatory aspects and impacts of the Agro2Circular circular solution. As a result, we are providing life-cycle assessment, social organisational life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis, and policy recommendations. Regarding safety issues, we have compiled the safety and regulatory requirements of ingredients for food, nutraceutical and cosmetic formulations. We are preparing an EFSA pre-dossier to ensure these secondary raw materials are as safe as the primary ones.  

All these evaluations will be public and contribute to the general knowledge of circular economy deployment. 

Agro2Circular has developed a digital integrated system (DIS) to ensure the traceability of the different materials and products involved in Agro2Circular value chains, which is supported by a predictive tool that will help decision-making in terms of technical, environmental, economic and social optimisation of the solution. This digital system has been flexibly developed using cutting-edge IT (blockchain, big data, watermarks, artificial intelligence) to be easily adaptable to other value chains. 

Agro2Circular is closely cooperating with the European Commission in developing and defining the European digital passport, which has been one of the project’s products shown as a case study. This system is part of the ten demonstrators that will be constructed and are designed to show the different technologies and products developed in the initiative. These include those for the upcycling of fruit & vegetable waste, two novel extraction routes, PHBV production, microbial oil production and novel plastic, food, nutraceutical and cosmetic formulations using the obtained extracts, materials, ingredients thanks to these novel technologies. 

Namely, the ten demonstrators of the project are grouped into categories for: the recycling sector; the food, cosmetic and nutraceutics sector; the food packaging sector; the agriculture primary sector; and for Circular Economy Digitalisation. 

Each demonstrator is led by a number of partners of the project, and is defined for a specific end-user and application, covering the whole value chain of the transformation processes of Agro2Circular. 

The Agro2Circular project has also developed an innovative self-assessment tool grounded in a multidimensional circular economy model. This comprehensive framework is designed to facilitate the adoption, replication, and scalability of Circular Economy solutions at the territorial level. As a key aspect of the project, we are also evaluating the replicability of these solutions in two European regions: Lombardy and NUTS 2 level regions in Lithuania.  

These efforts aim to ensure that the tools and solutions can be effectively utilised by the CCRI community and replicated within and beyond the food and plastics sectors.