Skip to main content
Knowledge category: Projects

Unlocking new VALUE from urban bioWASTE

Updated on 12.04.2023

The VALUEWASTE project proposes an integrated approach in urban biowaste upcycling to produce high-value biobased products, developing the first complete solution to fully valorise biowaste that can be replicated across Europe.

Acronym: VALUEWASTE
Countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Sweden
Project website: https://valuewaste.eu/
Start and end date: 01.11.2018 - 31.10.2022
Budget: 10 836 987 EUR
Funding source: Horizon 2020

More information

On average, each European citizen produces approximately 200 kg of municipal biowaste per year, representing between 118 and 138 million tonnes of biowaste annually arising in the EU. The main municipal biowaste management systems currently existing in Europe represent one-way flow systems in which materials and resources are underused, limiting its potential recovery into high-value products. VALUEWASTE will be developed at two very different European locations, Murcia (ES) and Kalundborg (DK) with the purpose of finding a solution both technically and socially adapted to the different socio-economic contexts exiting across Europe. Social initiatives will be created to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of urban biowaste-derived products. End-user products applications and new market opportunities will be demonstrated. Outcomes of the project will contribute to new standardisation and will be useful information for EU policy makers in terms of waste management and in the adoption of new policies.

Relevance for Circular Systemic Solutions

The project implemented three new value chains that used urban biowaste as raw material for its valorisation into high-value end products in a cascading process, generating economic, social and environmental benefits. These include food and feed proteins among other ingredients, and biobased fertiliser, thus building connections between several value chains and sectors (food and nutrients, agriculture, waste management, bioeconomy). Furthermore, the project worked on the perception of citizens on urban biowaste as a local source of valuable materials by addressing citizens through several communication campaigns and a citizen/consumer-oriented approach. The solutions tested in the project and the learnings obtained through its activities (e.g. citizen and stakeholder engagement) are relevant for cities and regions that have a Circular Systemic Solution that focuses on circular bioeconomy and would like to learn from best practices in biowaste upcycling.
 

The project took part and promoted the workshop ‘KEY-BIOWASTE’, which resulted in the development of a pre-normative document that was approved and published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN): CWA 17866:2022 ‘Key factors for the successful implementation of urban biowaste selective collection schemes’. This workshop provides guidance for the implementation of biowaste selective collection schemes. It is intended to help city managers and waste management service providers to increase the quality of the selectively collected biowaste, enabling the development of robust biowaste valorisation processes.

Horizon programme(s) and/or topic(s)

Programme:

  • H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Topic:

  • CE-SFS-25-2018 - Integrated system innovation in valorising urban biowaste

Budget

€ 10 836 986.77 (EU contribution: € 8 375 472.25)

Responsible organisation and contact details

Asociacion Empresarial Centro Tecnologico de la Energia y del Medio Ambiente de la Region de Murcia

Contact the project

Project consortium partners

  • FBCD AS
  • Asociacion Espanola de Normalizacion
  • Nutrients Recovery Systems
  • Ekobalans Fenix AB
  • Ingenieria y Desarrollos Renovablessociedad Limitada
  • Fundacion Gaiker
  • Entomo Consulting Sl
  • Kalundborg Kommune
  • European Biomass Industry Association
  • Creaciones Aromaticas Industriales S.A.
Sectors

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

e.g. chemicals, cosmetics, bio-based industries

e.g. B2B services

e.g. healthcare

including bio-based economy

Territories involved

large 500 000-200 000, medium 200 000-50 000, and small cities 50 000-5 000

large metropolitan area >1.5 million, metropolitan area 1.5 million-500 000

Intra-territorial areas

e.g. commercial, residential, service, industrial