Nevertheless, our current use of plastics in the agrifood sector leaves much to be desired. Resulting from a lack of sorting and recycling technologies that would allow for an economic and environmentally sustainable valorisation of plastics in the agrifood sector, they are nowadays mostly either incinerated or sent to landfill. Another challenge faced by the agrifood sector is the high wastage of fruits and vegetables along the food supply chain, amounting to more than 40%.

During the next three years, EURADA and our member INFO from Murcia will do our bit to tackle these issues in the framework of the Agro2Circular project. Out of 92 circular economy projects that applied under a recent call of the Horizon 2020 programme, Agro2Cirular is one of only four projects approved under this particularly competitive topic and will receive a grant of more than €14 million. The project is focused on the implementation of the first territorial systemic solution for the upcycling of fruits & vegetables and plastic multilayers into high added-value products, which are the most relevant residues in the agrifood sector. This endeavour will furthermore be powered by a digital tool and constructed upon a systemic approach with high replicable and scalable potential.

EURADA’s role in Agro2Circular will be twofold. For one, EURADA will be responsible for research into financing schemes linked to the business models generated that will then make use of the developed systemic solutions. For two, we will be the lead partner for networking and clustering activities. As such, we would like to invite all of our Members and otherwise interested actors in the circular economy to get in touch with us and Agro2Circular. Should you be interested in the project and the deployment of systemic solutions in the agrifood sector, do not hesitate to contact our colleague Jerome FRIEDRICHS.