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Celebrated every year on 5 December, World Soil Day raises awareness of the crucial role soil plays in food security, ecosystem health and sustainable development. As we mark this day, let’s look at the innovative bio-based solutions developed by the CBE JU projects that strengthen soil health across Europe.
Under the theme “Healthy soils for healthy cities” this year’s World Soil Day focuses on the importance of soils in cities. Human activity and climate change continue to be the main causes of soil degradation, with erosion reducing water infiltration, decreasing nutrients and disrupting ecosystems, threatening both rural and urban environments. According to the European Commission, Europe is facing a soil-health crisis with over 60% of its soils compromised or weakened.
Sustainable soil management can reverse these trends. By recycling nutrients and reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers, soil fertility is improved and pollution minimised. The cultivation of perennial and non-food crops on marginal or underutilised lands improves biodiversity, prevents erosion and increases carbon sequestration. In addition, innovative approaches to crop protection and bio-based fertilisers enhances water retention and nutrient density, supporting more resilient agricultural systems. Through its funded projects, CBE JU promotes soil restoration, transforms organic residues into soil-enhancing materials, develops bio-based materials that prevent the release of microplastics, fosters the use of bio-based pesticides reducing pollutants in the soil, and helps scale solutions that enhance soil fertility and boost biodiversity.
Restoring soil health trough underutilised crops
The GRACE project explored the potential of non-food crops, miscanthus and hemp, as sustainable biomass sources in the chemical sector. By cultivating these crops on marginal, contaminated or unused land with low inputs, GRACE demonstrated that they sequester carbon, improve soil quality and support biodiversity. GRACE developed new high-value applications, including platform chemicals, bio-based polymers and fibre-reinforced composites, creating economic opportunities for farmers and industry.
Healthy soils are the foundation of a sustainable bioeconomy. With perennial crops like miscanthus, we can contribute to restoring soil health, preventing erosion, and capturing carbon, all while sustainably producing renewable raw materials. This shows, bio-based solutions made from sustainable raw materials can help solve several challenges which humanity is currently facing.
Dr. Andreas Kiesel, Coordinator of the GRACE project, University of Hohenheim
The BeonNAT project demonstrated the potential of using marginal land in Germany, Romania and Spain to produce high-value forest biomass for bio-based products. By planting selected underutilised trees and shrub species, the project improved soil fertility, enhanced biodiversity and supported sustainable biomass supply chains. BeonNAT also created new economic opportunities in rural areas and implemented the use of local feedstocks.
BeonNAT demonstrated how the cultivation of resilient tree and shrub species on marginal lands can generate high-value bio-based products while enhancing soil quality, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience.
Luis Saúl Esteban Pascual, Biomass Unit, CEDER-CIEMAT
Working to restore degraded soils, the pHYBi project uses phytoremediation and lignocellulosic biomass valorisation to enable sustainable crop production on marginal lands. By combining beneficial fungi and bacteria with organic and inorganic (nano) amendments, the project enhances crop health and growth while improving soil conditions. These approaches support ecosystem recovery and open new pathways for productive, climate-resilient land management.
pHYBi turns a challenge into an opportunity: polluted soils become the starting point for a circular, bio-based textile industry. By using plants to clean the land and transforming the harvested biomass into sustainable materials, we restore soil health while creating new value. This approach addresses a key challenge of the bioeconomy: producing renewable feedstocks without competing with land needed for food production.
Andrea Martos, Team Manager at IDENER
Resilient agriculture through bio-based practices
Chemical fertilisers are widely used in Europe with nearly 9.3 million tonnes of nitrogen applied each year. While its usage is slowly declining, the environmental impact remains substantial. Bio-based fertilisers offer an eco-friendly alternative by recycling nutrients from organic waste, improving fertility and supporting a more resilient agricultural system.
The ReLEAF project is helping Europe reduce its reliance on synthetic fertilisers by producing bio-based alternatives from waste streams like sewage sludge, food waste and agri-food residues. Demonstrated at five sites across Europe, these fertilisers improve nutrient recycling, protect soils from microplastics and reduce nutrient loss.
ReLeaf’s innovative bio-based fertilisers represent a transformative approach to sustainable agriculture, turning waste into a valuable resource to restore and protect European soils. By reducing dependence on foreign supply chains and enhancing soil health, our solutions not only promote biodiversity but also support the resilience of agricultural systems in a circular economy.
Xialei You, principal researcher at ReLeaf project
The LANDFEED project is transforming underused waste from agriculture, forestry and urban sources into high-value bio-based fertilisers. By developing innovative coatings that optimise nutrient release, LANDFEED’s solutions help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, limit nutrient runoff and ease pressure on water resources. These innovations not only return valuable nutrients to the soil but also support biodiversity and long-term soil vitality across European landscapes.
By using cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, the ZELDA project is developing bio-based alternatives to chemical pesticides. Its goal is to deliver safer, cost-effective crop protection solutions that tackle climate-driven changes in pest populations, cut crop losses (which currently account for 40% of global food production) and help meet the rising demand for food by supporting a potential 50% increase in production.
The widespread use of chemical microbicides in crop protection has caused considerable soil degradation and continues to pose risks to human health and animal welfare. By replacing these substances with safer lignocellulose-based biosolutions, the ZELDA project aims to boost food production while safeguarding soil life, thereby reinforcing the foundations of sustainable agriculture.
David Canella, ZELDA project coordinator
Healthy soils are the foundation of a healthy planet. This World Soil Day, CBE JU reaffirms its commitment to the bioeconomy by supporting innovators, farmers and policymakers who are transforming soil management across Europe, building a more sustainable future for food supply, communities, and the environment.
