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Agrimax: to turn waste into high-value bio-based products

09/07/2021

François-Xavier Branthôme
Italy,
WPTC
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 On 20 July 2021, the Agrimax project will open new facilities in Spain and Italy, which will demonstrate how unavoidable crop and food-processing waste can be turned into high-value bio-based products for the food-ingredients, food-packaging and farming sectors.

These two new pilot plants, or biorefineries, have been developed by the EU-funded scheme, which aims to address Europe’s food waste problem.

The Italian pilot plant is based at family-run farm, Chiesa in the North of Italy and will process waste from tomatoes and cereals to produce bio-based compounds such as lycopene, ferulic acid, cutin, and hydrocompost.
The Spanish pilot plant, based at fruit processing company Indulleida, will do the same for olive, tomato, cereal and potato waste to produce polyphenols, fibres, proteins and aromas.
In addition to developing these processes, the pilot plant is adopting methods for coordinating and managing the provision of waste feedstocks.
 

Georgios Chalkias, Project Coordinator, IRIS Technology Solutions said: “This is an exciting time for the Agrimax project.
“Now the pilot plants are operational, we are seeing new applications being developed, such as a bio-based coating for metal food packaging, formulated with cutin extracted from tomato peels.”
“This coating has the capacity to replace standard coating of petrochemical origin– a fantastic opportunity for the food and food-packaging sector to help revolutionise consumer products.”

Virginia Puzzolo, Head of Programme, Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking added: “Agrimax is likely to become a successful example to showcase the spirit of the Circular Economy; much of the waste the project us using finds new applications in the sector that produced it, closing loops between primary production and re-use.”
 

To mark the construction and commission of its two multi-feedstock pilot plants (biorefineries), the BBI JU-funded Agrimax project is hosting an online event to showcase the ground-breaking new facilities in Spain and Italy.
Register for the online event (to be held via zoom).

 Some complementary data
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/720719/fr

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. Agrimax will maximize the EU’s sustainability, while providing new bio-based compounds for the food-ingredients, food-packaging and farming sectors.

The project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 720719.

The Agrimax consortium combines the expertise of 28 partners from 11 European countries: 18 of which are from industry.

Agrimax website http://agrimax-project.eu/

Sources: agromax.iris.cat, resource.co, besustainablemagazine.com, renewable-carbon.eu