The DeliSoil project will adopt a multi-actor, transdisciplinary approach to co-design processes that minimise waste and valorise byproducts in food systems, thereby re-envisioning the food waste hierarchy in light of the circular bioeconomy to create sustainable soil improvers in support of soil health in Europe.
DeliSoil’s 5 regional Living Labs (LLs), with actors along the whole food value chain, will combine wastes from food processing and production industries with innovative technologies for food residue treatments. In addition, companies are involved to generate soil improvers and organic fertiliser products, and landowners to test the tailored soil improvers. The tailored soil improvers will be evaluated for stability and biosafety, physical, chemical and biological indicators, agronomical and molecular parameters, and environmental risks, including nutrient leaching, GHG emissions, contaminants and toxicity. The product environmental footprint will then be measured for selected products.
We will identify technological, legislative, financial, and social barriers and enablers for the conversion of food processing residue streams into soil improvers and fertilizing products, and use these results to analyse fairness throughout the LL value chains. Together with stakeholders, we will build communities and create networks to facilitate knowledge sharing of the project’s key exploitable results, empower interdisciplinary design processes to improve soil health through the valorisation of food by-products, and increase soil literacy. The Living Lab system will share solutions between regional hubs using side-streams from vegetable, meat, insect cultivation, mixed food, compost, tomato processing, olive oil, and wine industry actors. Our proposed lighthouses will allow inter-European partnering and will serve as examples of improved waste management sites integrating optimal practices in a circular bioeconomy framework.
Keywords:
Circular bioeconomy, soil improvement, organic fertilizer
In collaboration/project group:
LUKE (Coordinator), Fundacio Universitaria Balmes, Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie L'ENERIT, Proman Management GmbH, Instytut Gospodarki Surowcami Mineralnymi I Ene, Erinn Innovation Limited, Kobenhavns Universitet, Universitaet Hohenheim, Universidad De Leon, Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per le Scienze Amb, Yara International ASA, Ruokavirasto, Pyhäjärvi-instituuttisäätiö, Forschungsinstitut Fur Biologischen Landbau Stich Associated
Duration:
1.5.2023 – 31.12.2027
Funding:
Horizon (HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL-01-02)
Project contacts:
Contact in Ruokavirasto: Liisa Maunuksela, Johanna Suomi, Anne Relander
Contact in Luke: Ansa Palojärvi ansa.palojarvi@luke.fi