Within RP1, BIN2BEAN focused on the activation and operationalisation of three LLs in Amsterdam, Egaleo, and Hamburg, which engaged a total of 59 soil system actors and 86 households through co-creation activities, targeted workshops, and awareness-raising events. This was supported by a structured methodology for the setup and management of LLs, including a toolbox of 20 engagement tools tailored to diverse urban conditions and designed to support their long-term functionality and transferability.
In parallel, a Stakeholder Forum with 50 members was established to foster knowledge exchange and support the co-design of locally adapted biowaste management systems. A mix of participatory and analytical methods was deployed to understand urban biowaste flows, including Material Flow Analyses (MFAs) conducted in Hamburg and Amsterdam to identify waste generation hotspots and design fit-for-purpose interventions. In Egaleo, where no bio-waste was previously converted into soil improvers, this activity created the opportunity to build a circular system from scratch.
In terms of knowledge building, BIN2BEAN produced a wide European-scale overview of the bio-waste management landscape, integrating information from over 50 technical publications, 15 expert interviews, 455 citizen responses, and 18 surveys to EU cities. This resulted in a handbook of good practices and recommendations for bio-waste valorisation with a back-to-soil objective.
Scientific activities focused on developing a conceptual evaluation framework to assess soil improvers’ impacts on soil health and ecosystem services, drafting of QA/QC protocols, developing a protocol for laboratory analysis of carbon and nitrogen mineralization rate, with early experimental work conducted in Hamrburg. Additionally, recognizing that good quality soil improvers start from well-sorted biowaste, pilot urban actions were launched, notably in Egaleo, with the distribution of bio-bins and home composting initiatives, and the setting up of a grinder system in Amsterdam.
To support the selection and uptake of the most promising solutions, BIN2BEAN initiated the development of a scoring system integrating environmental, technical, and socio-economic indicators, with a demo version presented to partners. Complementary to this, early market assessments, preliminary feasibility studies and willingness-to-pay/accept analyses were undertaken. A survey was also launched to identify training needs along the value chain, supporting future capacity-building actions for innovators and local entrepreneurs.
