WASTE2FUNC

The WASTE2FUNC project aims to resolve supply chain hurdles towards the efficient conversion of food (crop) waste into two types of biobased functional molecules for use in home- and personal care applications: lactic acid and microbial biosurfactants, functionally outperforming or equalling their respective fossil-based and/or 1G bio-based benchmarks. A new and sustainable biomass waste supply chain will be set up, in close interaction with the primary sector, by developing an ‘ad hoc’ registration- and collection system for erratic agricultural biomass waste and integrating this new biomass supply chain with an existing industrially available and continuous food waste stream , currently converted into biogas. This integration is crucial to build viable business cases associated with the WASTE2FUNC supply- and -value chains. The integration of the WASTE2FUNC biomass supply chain with new value chains based on the cost- and eco- efficient conversion of the waste biomass into market ready functional molecules for home- and personal care applications will be demonstrated. The value chains will be set up by (interaction with) all relevant key stakeholders: farmers and their representatives, primary crop-/food processors, food processors and -retailers, food waste collectors, technology owners for bio-based process, scale up facilities, product developers and -retailers in the respective sectors of application (home- and personal care) (B2B and B2C), regulators and last but not least the consumer . This interaction will be key to define benefits required for the farmers, regulatory- and processing hurdles, product developer- and consumer requirements and -constraints. Together with environmental, economic, social and regulatory analyses and constant optimization, performed by the WASTE2FUNC project partners, this will decrease CO2 emissions with at least 20% and increase value from waste with 2-10 fold and create (high tech) jobs for the primary- and downstream sector in Belgium and Europe.