What is the problem/issue being addressed?
The total rice-growing area in the EU is approx. 450.000 ha, located mostly in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, corresponding to an annual rice production of 3.1 million tons. For every 1 ton of rice grain, 1,5 tons of straw are produced. A third of the straw is left in the fields after harvesting and it is more often burned, as a means of clearing land rapidly and inexpensively, but environmentally very harmful.
Rice straw burning is a major source of air pollutants, including CO2 and CO, contributing to the global climate warming, as well as particulates and other elements such as dioxins and furans. For the EU rice annual production, total annual emissions of 0,6 million tonnes of CO2 are produced by rice straw burning. Furthermore, burning causes a negative impact on the soil (loss of major nutrients including N, P and K), as well as on flora, fauna and their habitat, in addition to a risk of fire spreading out of control.
Currently, legislation within the EU has mainly outlawed the practice of field burning agricultural wastes. However, the lack of commercial uses for rice straw is jeopardising a change in farmers´ habits, as they are reluctant to run with the cost of harvesting a product that they cannot valuate.
Why is it important for society?
HortoMold has the potential for a high positive environmental impact by exploiting the use of crops by-products, reducing the use of non-renewable raw materials and non-compostable packaging, and reducing the practise of burning in the rice growing fields. Currently, rice straw is an agricultural residue that generates multiple problems. Taking as an example the Albufera's Natural Park in Valencia, Spain, both to the inhabitants of the towns bordering the crop area (due to the smoke generated in the burning), and to the fauna of the Albufera Natural Park (due to putrefaction of the waters, generated by the straw left in the fields) are suffering the consequences of the lack of management of these residues. Given the complexity of rice cultivation in the Natural Park of L'Albufera in Valencia, where diverse interests such as hunting, fishery, tourism, environmental and agricultural activities coincide with the meteorological ones, it is necessary to interact with the various groups, although especially and mainly with the agricultural sector.
There is an opportunity for a commercial solution that can achieve sustainability on the reuse of rice straw, by delivering a value added product, while dealing with the big related challenges of:
1. Securing public authorities support in order to ensure a long-term and free-of-charge access to the raw material (rice straw left in the fields) so that the only cost related to raw material is for harvesting, transporting and storage.
2. Delivering a processing methodology that limits the need of storage and transportation of this bulky material (rice straw), thus reducing production costs.
3. Designing an added-value product that makes the business model economically feasible, building on key advantage (i.e. compostability and sustainability).
What are the overall objectives?
Contrerina team has worked to deliver a detailed feasibility assessment of the HORTOMOLD technology. During the period February to June 2016, our team has worked on a thorough feasibility assessment of our business idea of valorization of rice crops by-products into compostable food packaging.
To this aim, the main actions that we have undertaken are:
1. Technical and Operational Assessment.
2. IPR Assessment.
3. Market Assessment.
4. Promotion and Commercialisation.
5. Financial Assessment.
Conclusions of the action
The conclusion from this study is that our business idea has an enormous commercial potential and our project shall continue with a Phase 2 project that co-funding actions needed prior to Hortomold market entrance. The main actions to be undertaken in a Phase 2 project are:
- Investment to finalise the building of the pilot plant, located in Valencia, in the border of the Albufera, a major rice-growing area.
- Investment to build our pulping and moulding equipment, using a proprietary design for the use of wet rice-straw as raw material.
- Investment to adapt self-propelled machines, as used by the local farmers for rice harvesting. These machines have to be customised with mower systems to cut and chop the straw as well as with self-loading system so that straw is collected in the mowing, instead of left on the field.
- Undertaking a complete characterisation of the Hortomold packaging properties, including standard characterisation of packaging material, characterisation of food-compatible packaging and certification as a biodegradable and compostable packaging
- Validating the harvesting and packaging production process, under real operational conditions in the pilot plant, once all required equipment is being acquired, installed and tuned.
- Undertaking additional development works towards the next generation products, where special coatings need to be applied to tailor different functionalities (p.e. coffee capsules with excellent sealing; trays for fresh food preserved in a modified atmosphere)
- Initiating ambitious promotional actions, including presentation of our packaging products in the main fairs in Spain, Germany and UK
- Tech watch of any related technologies and determination of our IPR strategy to reinforce our competitive advantage over time.
- Revision and updating of financial forecasts
- Seeking of additional funding from private investors inn Spain or alternatively, in other European nations.
