Improving food systems sustainability and soil health with food processing residues

Project results should contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• Improved management and recycling of food-processing residues (solid and liquid) for increased soil health.
• Reduced discharge of nutrients (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) into sewage/natural watercourses and landfills relieving eutrophication in water bodies.
• Empowered interdisciplinary design processes to create soil improvers and to valorise food by-products in food systems (e.g., land managers, industry, SMEs, local authorities, educational institutions and civil society).
• Higher number of co-developed solutions and investments (public and private) in circular bioeconomy projects.

The predominantly linear economic models of food production are unstainable and heavily rely on finite and scarce resources, such as phosphorus and water. In spite of recent achievements in resource efficiency gain, the food production and processing industry still requires large volumes of clean water; while also contributing to the discharge of nutrients and organic matter into publicly owned streams and waterbodies. Those nutrients and organic matter can be valorised and used as soil improvers,^[1] instead of being wasted. Food systems actors need to recognise that the re-use of water and food by-products is key to achieve circularity in the industry and contribute to soil health.

Circularity is a key component of the European Green Deal, especially the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Farm to Fork and the Bioeconomy strategies, and the supporting FOOD 2030 research and innovation policy. Circularity will allow to reverse the trends of unsustainability and provides opportunities to transform by-products into valuable resources for soils, while taking into account the current legislation on animal by-products and fertilizers^[2][3]. An untapped opportunity lies in the valorisation of food waste streams containing nutrients and organic matter that can contribute to soil health, fertility and restoration while considering the food waste hierarchy^[4]. The food waste hierarchy focuses on prevention actions, followed by reuse and recycling pathways, and should guide the development of strategies that tackle food processing residues for soil improvement, when those residues cannot be used for other higher value uses (e.g., re-use for animal feed or use as by-products).

Proposed activities should:

• Develop high quality standardized processes and strategies for the re-use of food processing residues streams for soil improvers production, which would be in compliance with EU regulatory requirements.
• Assess existing best practices (e.g., from H2020 projects^[5] and EIT Food initiatives such as Regenerative Agriculture^[6]) identifying key economic, environmental and social factors that enable/hinder the replicability/scalability of using food waste streams as soil improvers (e.g., food by-products collection and treatment, bio-waste composting) and addresses the challenge of soil health in a holistic way, from farm to fork, involving multiple stakeholders (e.g., farmers, food industries) as well as by engaging ordinary citizens in defining their matters of concerns and co-creating solutions.
• Elaborate a list of actions and priorities to overcome efficiently potential challenges and trade-offs (e.g., potential biological or chemical risks, storage, transport, lack of awareness of circular potential), and outline innovative techniques by which food waste can be transformed into a safe valuable input for soil amelioration, while reducing the loss of nutrients in nature.
• While taking into account current EU regulatory frameworks and the role of different actors, set up an evaluation framework for the design, implementation and monitoring of the performance of actions and strategies that will lead to an optimised use of food processing waste streams, including the best way for applying each type of these residues into the soil.
• Identify public and private funding streams that can be used to support circular bioeconomy projects and initiatives that boost nutrient use for soil health.
• Create societal awareness by bringing together public authorities, the private sector, educators, researchers, media, NGO and citizens to foster circularity of the food system to develop activities targeted to different actors.
• Implement a participatory and multi-actor approach by engaging a wide range of food system actors to co-create research and improve co-ownership of results.

The proposed activities should take into account animal health legislation in order to prevent animal and public health risks.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the EU Soil Observatory and other projects to be funded under the mission.

Societal Engagement
Social Innovation
Digital Agenda
EOSC and FAIR data

[1] ‘Soil improver’ means a material added to soil in situ, whose main function is to maintain or improve its physical and/or chemical and/or biological properties, with the exception of liming materials.

[2] Animal by-product regulation (EC) No 1069/2009

[3] EU Circular Economy Fertilising Products Regulation (EU 2019/1009).

[4] Sanchez Lopez, J., Patinha Caldeira, C., De Laurentiis, V. and Sala, S., Brief on food waste in the European Union, Avraamides, M. editor(s), European Commission, 2020, JRC121196t

[5] For example, LEX4BIO – Optimizing Bio-based Fertilisers in Agriculture – Knowledgebase for New Policies (call H2020-RUR-2018-2, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/818309); CIRCULAR AGRONOMICS - Efficient Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycling in the European Agri-food System and related up- and down-stream processes to mitigate emissions (call H2020-SFS-2017-2, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/773649) ; NOMAD - Novel Organic recovery using Mobile ADvanced technology (call H2020-SFS-2019-1, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/863000); WATERAGRI - Water Retention And Nutrient Recycling In Soils And Streams For Improved Agricultural Production (call H2020-SFS-2019-2, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/858375).

[6] https://www.eitfood.eu/projects/the-regenerative-agriculture-revolution-2020