EC Launches Initiative Aimed At Connecting Stakeholders With Biobased Compounds
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A.
On April 10, 2020, the European Commission (EC) announced the launch of its new online service that connects crop and food producers with biorefineries. This European Union (EU) project aims to address food waste by enabling crop producers, food processors, and agricultural cooperatives to sell their waste as feedstock for use by two biorefineries in Spain and Italy. The multi-feedstock biorefineries, designed by Agrimax, convert farming and food processing byproducts into compounds that can be used in biobased food packaging as well as in the biobased chemical and agricultural sectors. Agrimax is an EU-funded project focused on the development and demonstration of high-value products from crop and food-processing waste. Its work develops economically competitive routes to the commercialization of the products. The project is expected to end in September 2020; developers hope to make a positive impact in growth of the biobased and agricultural sectors.