Whey2Value: valorising waste whey into high-value products

Project Information

WHEY2VALUE

Grant agreement ID: 663742

DOI

10.3030/663742

Project closed

EC signature date 21 January 2015

Start date 1 February 2015

End date 31 May 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

ACIES BIO BIOTEHNOLOSKE RAZISKAVE IN RAZVOJ DOO
Slovenia

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WHEY2VALUE (Whey2Value: valorising waste whey into high-value products)

Reporting period: 2015-02-01 to 2015-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Acid whey is a major unsolved high-cost environmental challenge for the world’s dairy industry. Around 200 million tons of waste whey is produced annually, of which nearly 50% goes unprocessed and ends up clogging the wastewater treatment stations or, in less regulated environments, is released into streams thus heavily polluting the environment. W2V meets the unmet challenge of sustainable milk processing with a make-use-reuse principle: from milk industries (cheese production) through waste whey management to vitamin B12 production, used as a high-value animal feed additive, and a purified water which is again reused by the dairy industry.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within the scope of SME INST Phase 1 we performed a feasibility study of four main components of the project: technical, market, financial and managerial feasibility. The feasibility study provided an important insights for preparation of optimal business model with in-depth analysis of market conditions, technical specifications and risk assessments and financial modeling.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The W2V project aims to bring to market a unique patent-pending eco-innovation bioprocess to utilize acid whey as a primary ingredient for microbial fermentation to produce sustainable high value products. The W2V technology converts the organic content of acid whey into feed-grade microbial biomass with high content of valuable vitamin B12, while the remaining water can be reused by the dairy factory or released into the water streams. The implementation of W2V technology will greatly reduce the environmental footprint, lower the production costs and increase competitiveness of dairy companies. Particularly, W2V technology will be highly relevant for European dairy industry, where most companies consist of small and medium sized dairy factories, which cannot afford costly processing facilities for disposal of acid whey. W2V project will generate an entirely new type of product for the EU and global markets: an organic vitamin B12-enriched microbial biomass, which can be used as very high quality animal feed, creating a perfect example of sustainable and economical circular zero-waste economy. W2V technology requires a low-cost processing facility, which can be installed on site of the dairy company. W2V technology is a game-changing solution for small-to-medium sized dairy companies and to the dairy industry in general. We expect rapid European and global market adoption of this unique disruptive technology demonstrating resource efficient circular economy.

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