DeliSoil

Converting food processing side streams into valuable resources for soil
Mountains of food processing side streams plague our modern world, while soil health deteriorates. In a paradigm-shifting initiative, the EU-funded DeliSoil project is forging a transdisciplinary path. The project sets out to co-design processes that not only minimise food processing side streams but also convert it into tailored soil enhancers through a circular bioeconomy approach. This groundbreaking initiative involves a network of five regional Living Labs, each tailored to a specific context. Here, cutting-edge technologies will be harnessed to create bespoke soil enhancers. Rigorous evaluations in state-of-the-art laboratories will ensure stability, biosafety, and molecular integrity. Impact assessments on soil health, agricultural performance and environmental risks will follow suit, providing a comprehensive understanding of potential benefits.

DeliSoil will adopt a multi-actor, transdisciplinary approach to co-design processes that minimise food processing waste and valorise its by-products. We will apply a circular bioeconomy approach to the waste hierarchy, creating sustainable soil improvers in support of soil health in Europe. DeliSoil’s 5 regional Living Labs (LLs), with actors along the entire food value chain, will use innovative technologies to convert residues from food processing and production industries into tailored soil improvers. Research partners and companies will evaluate the soil improvers in state-of-the-art laboratories, and landowners will test the project’s solutions. The tailored soil improvers will be tested for stability, biosafety and molecular parameters, and their impacts on soil health, agronomical performance, and environmental risks will be evaluated. Environmental footprints will also be measured for selected products. 

We will identify technological, legislative, financial, and social barriers and enablers for the conversion of food processing residue streams into organic soil improvers and fertilising products, and use these results to analyse fairness throughout the LL value chains. Together with stakeholders, we will build communities and create networks to facilitate knowledge sharing of DeliSoil’s key exploitable results, empower interdisciplinary design processes to improve soil health through the valorisation of food by-products, and increase societal soil literacy. The Living Labs will share their solutions for using side-streams from vegetable, meat, insect cultivation, mixed food, tomato, olive oil, and wine industry actors. Our proposed Lighthouses will allow inter-European partnering and demonstrate improved waste management sites integrating optimal practices in a circular bioeconomy framework. We will work in close cooperation with other EU projects and the European Soil Observatory (EUSO) to ensure coordinated delivery of Soil Mission goals.