Sustainable path creation for innovative value chains for organic waste products

Waste and other residual materials from industries and households are of increasing value in today's economy. Substances that have long represented a cost to the economy are becoming a valuable resource, due to changes in technology that enable a greater share of their potential to be extracted. From 2015 to 2019, the research project 'Sustainable path creation for innovative value chains for organic waste products (SusValueWaste)' studied this topic. The project was funded by the BIONAER programme at the Research Council of Norway, and it was based on interdisciplinary collaboration between research groups - TIK-centre at the University of Oslo, Østfoldforskning, University of Stavanger, NIBIO, DTU and Lund University - specializing in innovation, environmental life cycle assessment, value chain analysis and relevant technologies, located in Scandinavia. The project addressed the potential for value added and improved sustainability in the valorisation of organic waste streams, residual feedstock and by-products by analysing value chains inside and across different sectors of the bioeconomy, such has forest-based industries, the dairy sector, meat-processing industry, breweries, land-based aquaculture and private organic household waste. The researchers identify main conflicts of interests, inconsistencies of the political framework and political strategies, and regulatory requirements for possible future paths towards a sustainable path creation for innovative organic waste value chains. The project will help policymakers better govern and regulate the organic waste industry and the industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the bioeconomy. The researchers address challenges and bottlenecks for innovation and value creation in the relevant value chains (i.e., fertilizer, biomaterials, biogas) with regard to political framework, sustainability, technologies, and resources, such as capital, competencies, labour force and market opportunities. The project collaborated with many Norwegian and Danish companies engaged in organic waste activities. It addresses value chain development and the circular bioeconomy by combining value chain analysis, innovation systems and transition theory and environmental life cycle assessment. The results of the project are summarised in the book "From Waste to Value" at Routledge. The project has published a number of scientific articles. All information can be found at the project homepage: www.susvaluewaste.no.

For prosjektets deltakere har prosjektet ført til en god kompetansebygging, nasjonale og internasjonale nettverk. Kunnskapen utviklet i prosjektet inngår i nye prosjekter som enten har allerede startet eller som vi har søkt om støtte. Prosjektet har bidratt til å sette den sirkulære bioøkonomien på agendaen både i den internasjonale og nasjonale vitenskapelige diskursen, men også i offentlig sektor - her med vekt på styring av avfallssystemer - og i privat næringsliv for å utnytte bedre sidestrømmer og restressurser. Workshops og andre møtearenaer har bidratt til at prosjektet ble mer kjent blant aktørene. I vår publiseringsstrategi har vi satset på å komme tidlig med publikasjoner i åpen access tidsskrifter for å påvirke den internasjonale diskursen. Boka "From Waste to Value" ble også publisert åpent. Vi har søkt samarbeidet med andre prosjekter finansiert av Bionær og organiserte en konferanse sammen halvveis i prosjektet - NoRest-konferansen i København.

The project will address the potential for value added and improved sustainability in the valorisation of organic waste streams, residual feedstock and by-products (short: OW) by analysing value chains inside and across different sectors of the bioeconomy. We will analyse a number of industrial cases from different parts of the bioeconomy and collaborate with highly relevant industry actors and technology experts. The project will help policymakers better govern and regulate the OW industry and the industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the bioeconomy. The project has following main objectives: - map industrial capabilities and research & human resources in the OW related industries, and consider whether and where policy intervention may be needed. - help industrial actors to identify possible pathways to increase their rate of innovation and value added from OW related activities. - carry out life cycle assessments and comparative analyses of environmental performance of OW value chains and selected case studies to help government and companies to select environmentally beneficial resources, products and production processes. - assess how the regulatory framework influences the management of organic waste streams in Norway and in other Scandinavian countries and how the governance systems support innovation, industrial development and sustainability. Our project focusses on innovative and sustainable exploitation of OW. It contributes to the further development of the Norwegian bioeconomy by collaborating with close to ten companies engaged in OW activities. It addresses value chain development and the circular bioeconomy by combining value chain analysis, innovation systems and transition theory and environmental life cycle assessment. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration between research groups specializing in innovation, environmental research and value chain analysis and relevant technologies, located in Scandinavia.