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CAFIPLA

Combining carboxylic acid production and fibre recovery as an innovative, cost-effective and sustainable pre-treatment process for heterogeneous bio-waste

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Project details

Type of project
Research & Innovation Action
Project focus
Bio-based chemicals
Feedstock origin
Agri-food waste
Organic waste
Feedstock type
Food industry sidestreams
Organic fraction of municipal solid waste
Project period
1 June 2020 - 31 May 2023
Status
Completed
CBE JU Contribution
€ 4 472 099,47
Call identifier
H2020-BBI-JTI-2019

Summary

The growing success of the bio-based economy is creating an unforeseen problem demand for suitable feedstocks which is proving increasingly difficult to meet. In addition, the majority that are being supplied are coming from primary agricultural production, such as starch, sugar and vegetable oils. This is creating competition between food and feed production, which may lead to changes in land use to try to meet demand. In addition, the lack of indigenous supply means that Europe depends on imports for more than 50 % of its raw material.

An ideal solution would be to use alternative waste streams to create feedstocks. Using heterogeneous biowaste – a mix of municipal/urban biowaste, sewage sludge, industrial residues, agricultural harvest residues, etc. This waste is currently a cause for concern from an environmental perspective, as it is difficult to treat. However, its heterogeneous nature makes it a challenging source, as does the fluctuating nature of its supply and availability.

The CAFIPLA project aims to square this circle, allowing it to address the issue of heterogeneous biowaste and increase the supply of suitable feedstocks. It will develop and optimise a breakthrough pre-treatment cascade process that converts these biowaste streams into high-quality intermediates for the bio-based industry. It uses two conversion platforms; the first – the Carboxylic Acid Platform (CAP) - converts the easily degradable fraction into Short Chain Carboxylic Acids (SCCAs) and nutrients. The second - the Fibre Recovery Platform (FRP) - extracts insoluble lignocellulosic fibres from the remaining fraction. The residue is converted to biogas and compost. This will provide an economically viable and environmentally friendly treatment technology to create biowaste-based feedstock from a currently under-valorised biowaste.

Consortium map

Project coordination

  • FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION DERIO BIZKAIA, Spain

Consortium

  • DECHEMA GESELLSCHAFT FUR CHEMISCHETECHNIK UND BIOTECHNOLOGIE Frankfurt, Germany
  • AVECOM GENT-WONDELGEM, Belgium
  • DBFZ DEUTSCHES BIOMASSEFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH LEIPZIG, Germany
  • UNIVERSITEIT GENT GENT, Belgium
  • BIOTREND-INOVACAO E ENGENHARIA EM BIOTECNOLOGIA SA CANTANHEDE, Portugal
  • BIOPRACT GMBH Berlin, Germany
  • IDELUX ENVIRONNEMENT Arlon, Belgium
  • UNIVERSITAET FUER BODENKULTUR WIEN Wien, Austria
  • LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR AGRARTECHNIK UND BIOOKONOMIE EV POTSDAM, Germany
  • OWS RESEARCH FOUNDATION PS Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
  • FIBRES RECHERCHE DEVELOPPEMENT-CONSTRUCTION DURABLE ET ECOMATERIAUX Rosieres Pres Troyes, France
Former member
  • VERTECH GROUP Nice, France
  • NORMEC OWS GENT, Belgium