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Funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU – The Recovery and Resilience Facility
Project title: Transforming bio-waste to innovative hydroponic solutions
Project number: NPOO.C3.2.R3-I1.04.0143
Call: Targeted Scientific Research – Increasing Research and Innovation Capacity
Program: The Recovery and Resilience Facility
Source of funding: European Union – Next Generation EU
Competent authority: Republic of Croatia Ministry of Science and Education
Supervisory authority: Croatian Science Foundation
Funding: 1,026,708.17 EUR
Duration: 24 months (1 Jul 2024–30 Jun 2026)
ABSTRACT
The project responds to the challenges of the priority policies of green transition and sustainable and circular economy. An interdisciplinary cooperation between science and industry with a long-term vision of transforming traditional agriculture into an advanced economic branch with efficient use of waste resources and low impact on the environment and climate.
Since waste contains valuable raw materials that can be recycled, the main goal of the project is to prove the technological concept to produce innovative hydroponic substrates. Substrates based on bio-waste have the potential to become a game changer for the industry for several reasons:
- sustainability – conversion of bio-waste as a basic material for substrates reduces the amount of undisposed waste, which is in line with the principles of circular bioeconomy and reduces negative impacts on the environment
- efficiency – innovative substrates have optimal properties for efficient crop cultivation, which reduces the use of soil additives (fertilizers, conditioners)
- economy – the use of bio-waste as a raw material can reduce substrate production costs compared to synthetic substrates and, consequently, the price of plant food
- self-sufficiency – by using bio-waste as a resource for substrates, local industry and producers will be economically independent from the import of raw materials from which hydroponic substrates are traditionally produced (peat, coconut fibers, perlite, zeolite, polystyrene, rock wool, etc.)
- nutrient recycling – the use of bio-waste enables the recycling of nutrients and their return to the agricultural system
- reduced emission of greenhouse gases – due to the reduced amount of bio-waste in landfills.
The development of the commercialization model and internationalization plan of the Was2Grow concept supports the principles of circular bioeconomy, sustainable development and waste management, with the aim of reducing the amount of bio-waste in landfills and strengthening the standards of bio-waste processing in smart and green innovations for advanced plant food production in greenhouses.
