The bioeconomy is a hot topic these days, right up at the top of policy agendas. It involves using renewable natural resources as a raw material. The circular bioeconomy introduces circularity into this concept: using what would otherwise be thrown away, using spent biological resources to regenerate ecosystems and minimising waste.

The ECESP website has a good selection of circular bioeconomy-themed content. This series will shine a spotlight on it.

Circular bioeconomy concept: a database of technologies using bio-waste

Tech4Biowaste (A DYNAMIC DATABASE OF RELEVANT TECHNOLOGIES OF BIO-WASTE UTILISATION) was an EU-funded project which ended in March 2023. It aimed to lay the groundwork for bio-waste technologies. Specifically, it created a database providing a comprehensive technology overview for the valorisation of bio-waste (food waste and garden waste) into value added applications, including organic soil improvers, fertilisers, organic chemicals, fuels and energy. The tool matches technology providers of existing and emerging technologies with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and higher for biowaste utilisation and valorisation with technology searchers.

The technology database contains up-to-date information and is user-friendly, well-maintained and accessible to everybody. The project partners will continue to curate the content even after the project has finished. The database provides information and technical details on the technologies for interested stakeholders and a platform for technology providers to show innovative technologies.

Features:

• Businesses which want to add their biowaste technology to the database can do so directly, and the content is determined jointly with actors across the bio-waste value chain.
• Stakeholders can find information about specific technologies: the technology pages provide a description of the specific technologies available, together with profiles of the different technology providers.
• There is a decision support tool made up of a feedstock-product matrix and a link to the technology comparison tool. The matrix will help users compare technology alternatives and/or select the most suitable technology to transform a specific group of feedstocks into a specific group of products.
• There is a glossary of terms used in the field of biowaste.