NoAW’s solution is a cascading biorefinery of agricultural residues from livestock farming, fruits, vegetables, cereal and wine sectors. To enhance anaerobic digestion, a wet explosion process (AD booster pre-treatment) was developed to degrade the recalcitrant lignin of ligno-cellulosic residues into accessible substrate in subsequent processes. Then, a 2-step anaerobic digestion process has been developed (Fig.5) to produce biogas (H2, CH4, CO2) as well as volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and nutrient rich digestate. The biogas has been upgraded by microbial electrosynthesis into biomethane and biohythane for use as an automotive biofuel or to be injected into the natural gas grid. The safe use of the digestate and nutrient load was optimized in a Bavarian farm with a Near Infra-Red Technology (Fig.6). The volatile fatty acids were used to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) able to partially substitute oil-based plastics (Fig.7) and the final packaging materials were formulated with lignocellulosic fillers and antioxidants from winery waste. Other cascading options were explored, most of them successfully, to valorise winery, fruit & vegetable wastes, digestate and VFAs (Fig.8 and 9). Based on NoAW’s findings, a whole technology chain was elaborated with quantified positive environmental benefits and fitting business models for upscaled industrial practice.
Supported by a large international stakeholders platform, agro-waste management strategies were both driven and evaluated by life cycle analysis coupled to territorial metabolism and multi-criteria decision analysis. The developed decision-support tool was successfully used to support NoAW’s concept (Fig.10) and its applicability at regional level. A Geographic Information System tool was developed for mapping waste management, and new practices for handling vine shoots have been adopted by winegrowers in Serbia.
Outcomes have been presented in stakeholder events successfully organized in Brussels, Italy, China and France. Overall, more than 50 scientific papers as well as many dissemination actions have reached worldwide over 40000 stakeholders, who have been actively mobilised all along the project.
