Europe – food processing waste project

There is great pressure from consumers and legislation (eg EC Landfill Directive) for food processors to reduce disposal of co-product wastes, which are biologically complex, environmentally unfriendly, and often microbiologically unstable.



Within this framework, REPRO is a STREP project funded by the 6FP Food Quality and Safety priority of DG Research addressing advanced methods to enable total transformation of food-processing-derived plant-based organic waste co-products [vegetable trimmings and brewers‘‘ spent grain] into high and medium added value food, feed and pharmaceutical products such as biopolymers, phytochemicals, nutrients and micronutrients.



REPRO has a multidisciplinary pan-European expert team to provide:



· Integrated procedures for ensuring microbiological safety, stability and traceability of co-products

· Precision enzyme-based bioprocesses to deconstruct and tailor co-products components

· Novel hybrid systems (bioprocesses+advanced separation/extraction technologies) to deconstruct co-products into defined and marketable product streams while ensuring water recycling

· Minimisation of market risk of new processes by:

· Ensuring acceptability of new products and processes by consumer/retailers by risk assessment, technological feasibility, economic viability, environmental safety (LCA), and legislative compliance

· Developing dissemination and exploitation routes across the food industry and consumer/retailer sectors via Stakeholder Interaction Platforms and a Brokerage Platform.



REPRO – benefits



Around 3.4 million tonnes of spent grain from the brewing industry and over 1 million tonnes of vegetable trimmings from the vegetable processing industry (Eurostat data) are produced in the EU every year. These plant-derived waste co-products are known to contain significant amounts of valuable components, which remain unexploited waste in the current processes.



A sustainable future for food processors requires that these co-products are exploited and upgraded to:



· Reduce the environmental impact of food waste (reducing landfill, lessening noxious residues and odours)

· Enhance the sustainable management of organic matter from food production and processing; contribute to integrated resource and waste management (IRWM)

· Promote environmentally-friendly processing methods

· Increase industrial competitiveness

· Contribute to food quality and safety

· Provide with natural additives and components to food, feed and pharmaceutical industries

· Shift the technological exploitation of biomaterials (extensive to other industrial sectors) Economically viable up-grading requires whole-waste utilisation and therefore a very high degree of multidisciplinarity in the R&D process.



Who can benefit from REPRO?



The main target organisations benefiting from REPRO outputs would be:



· Food industries from the brewery and vegetable processing sectors

· Food industries from related sectors (cereal processing, juices, other beverages) with similar waste problems and potential for valuable products recovery

· Food industries looking for added-value ingredients (nutraceuticals, etc.)

· Animal feed industries, especially fish feed manufacturers as specifically addressed within the project

· Pharmaceutical companies looking for new/alternative compounds from natural sources

· Companies involved in process engineering and equipment design and manufacturing Companies interested in new market opportunities

· Research organisations involved in organic waste upgrading, bioprocesses, innovative separation and extraction technologies, hybrid processes, etc