GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Project activities should address:

• Identification and optimization of suitable NLBM feedstock, with focus on higher resources efficiency and circularity, while respecting the waste hierarchy principles. Such feedstock to be deployed in adequate production systems, including upcycling approaches. More specifically, design and develop innovative upstream and conversion processes at pilot scale (e.g., via application of enzymes, industrial microbial hosts, microbiomes from natural ecosystems and diverse industrial biotech or other appropriate enabling technologies);
• Develop downstream conversion processes, building towards a targeted portfolio of high-value bio-based process outputs / bio-based products that can be later obtained in NLBM integrated biorefineries (of appropriate scale);
• Assessment of the proposed/developed innovative processes against techno-economic feasibility to valorise NLBM (waste) (at different potential biorefinery scales), showcasing/ensuring process flexibility to cope with the composition heterogeneity of the chosen NLBM feedstock(s);
• Application of ex ante life-cycle assessment methodologies to ensure gains in environmental performance (including biodiversity), but also socio-economic aspects, as well ensuring safety for the consumers and operators;
• Enable participatory approaches and knowledge sharing across circular bio-based value chains. This includes feedstock providers (rural, coastal, urban and peri-urban dimensions, as appropriate), bio-based (process) industry, end-users and the civil society, aiming for a comprehensive scoping of challenges (multiple dimensions) and opportunities of valorising NLBM and NLBM waste.
• Production of biofuels and bioenergy, as the main production focus, falls outside the scope of this topic (their co-production, while following the cascading biomass use principles, is not excluded though). Food/feed ingredients, cosmetics-related compounds and especially those with health-promoting properties (nutraceuticals), may be in scope, provided their toxicological and nutritional safety has been assessed and guaranteed at EU level.