Working area TKI: central theme Circular

Closing cyclic processes

The main focus of the central theme Circular is the closing of cycles, limiting loss, adding value to side and residual flows from the agricultural food sector. The whole chain is involved, from primary production to processing and end products.

We distinguish the following parts:

• Development of new and adjusted raw materials (green raw materials)
• Valorisation of proteins, carbohydrates, oils and fats
• Integrated (small-scale) bio refinery
• Processing and valorisation of animal manure

Activities

The current activities include 16 PPS projects and programmes placed in the roadmap Biobased Economy. This roadmap is part of the knowledge and innovation agenda of the TKI-BBE (BioBased Economy) (a crossover between the Top Sectors Agri & Food, Chemistry and Energy). The TKI-BBE distinguishes the following themes, each of them very relevant to the agri and food sector:

• (Micro) biological conversion
• Chemical-catalytic conversion
• Thermal conversion
• Solar capturing (directly converting CO2 into raw materials and fuels by using sunlight)

In the next few years, we will specifically focus on:

• Transition Team Circular economy biomass and food
• Transition Team plastics, main focus on bioplastics as a high-end valorisation option for biomass residual flows
• Valorisation of animal manure: NL Next-Level initiative and NWO-programme with Carbohydrate Competence Centre (CCC)
• Making raw materials more sustainable/ Raw Materials Agreement
• Development of new, more circular chains through integrated bio refinery concepts and adding value to side flows.

Circular