Industries
Waste & circular economy
What changes this industry: bio-solutions with evidence, technologies, suppliers and open money.
Overview of the industry
Organic residues that are burned, dumped, landfilled or chemically stabilized — rice and wheat straw set on fire, food waste rotting in landfills, sewage sludge dosed with lime, faecal sludge dumped raw — and the biological routes that turn them into feed protein, fertilizer, gas and materials. Biogas as an energy product is in energy; this collection covers the waste-management side.
Waste treatment and the use of waste-derived products are regulated (EU Waste Framework Directive, Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC, animal by-products and feed rules for insects; in Russia: Federal Law 89-FZ on production and consumption waste, Rosprirodnadzor). The articles are overviews, not permits.
Articles#
| ID | Problem → alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| WC01 | Crop residues → in-situ mulching/incorporation, decomposers, bio-CNG, biochar | Open-field straw and cane-trash burning | Replace / Partial |
| WC02 | Food waste → BSF larvae, composting, bokashi | Landfill, open dumping, wet-waste incineration | Replace / Partial |
| WC03 | Sludge → anaerobic digestion, co-composting, reed beds, FS treatment | Lime stabilization, landfill, raw dumping | Replace / Partial |
| WC04 | Biowaste → separate collection, composting and anaerobic digestion (17 % of EU municipal waste) | Landfill | Replace |
Related articles elsewhere#
- Biogas and landfill gas: EN01, EN04; residue pellets: EN05
- Insect protein: FD02
- Fertilizers made from these streams: NU03, NU04
- Sugarcane and palm residues: BR02
Reviewed but SKIPPED (no proven bio-alternative)#
| Substance / use | Hazard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Enzymatic recycling of PET and other plastics | Plastic waste | First commercial plants are being built in Europe, but no proven operating scale yet and no supplier in the index — watchlist |
| Mixed (unsorted) municipal waste | Contamination | Biological routes need source separation; mechanical-biological treatment of mixed waste gives low-quality outputs |
| Medical and hazardous waste | Infection, toxicity | Needs thermal/chemical treatment by law — not a bioeconomy substitution |
What it replaces 4
Screened candidates 1
| WC04 | composting and anaerobic digestion of separately collected biowaste instead of landfill write — 17% of EU municipal waste composted/digested (2018), +52% since 2004 (EEA data). | D2 |
Technologies 14
| Anaerobic digestion & biogas from MSW Industrial-scale anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste (MSW) to produce renewable natural gas (RNG), drastically reducing methane emissions from … | Biofuels & bioenergy |
| Bio-disposable tableware for consumers Finished compostable foodservice tableware — bagasse and molded-fiber plates and bowls, PLA cutlery and cups — manufactured and sold by dedicated … | Polymers & materials |
| Biogas and anaerobic fermentation Microbial anaerobic digestion of farm residues, energy crops and food waste into biogas, upgraded to grid-injectable biomethane (RNG) — a regional biogas … | Biofuels & bioenergy |
| Circular fashion: textile collection & sorting Collection, automated sorting and fiber-to-fiber recycling of post-consumer textile waste — the infrastructure layer turning Europe's 12+ million tonnes of … | Fibers & textiles |
| Coffee-ground and agri-byproduct upcycling Turning spent coffee grounds and agro-industrial side streams into cosmetic ingredients, materials and products — a biorefinery discipline where the proof is a … | Bioremediation |
| Composting & vermicomposting Aerobic composting and vermicomposting turn municipal, agricultural and food-processing organic waste into soil amendments — compost, worm-cast vermicompost and … | Logistics & supply chain |
| Enzymatic textile recycling Recycling of polyester and polycotton textile waste by engineered hydrolytic enzymes (PET-depolymerizing cutinases, cellulases) that depolymerize PET to TPA and … | Fibers & textiles |
| Industrial symbiosis & by-product exchange platforms The coordination layer of the circular economy — geographic symbiosis networks, by-product matching platforms, material/digital product passports and circular … | Bioremediation |
| Microbial bioremediation (enzymatic degradation, PFAS destruction, MBR wastewater) Microbes and enzymes that degrade or destroy pollutants — waste plastic, PFAS, industrial effluents and municipal wastewater — a remediation value chain from … | Bioremediation |
| Reverse logistics of biowaste & biomass The reverse supply chain that collects, stabilises, densifies and traces organic waste and biomass streams from generator to biorefinery — turning food waste, … | Logistics & supply chain |
| Smart composting kits for apartments Indoor composting devices that break down kitchen scraps through an actual biological mechanism — continuous live-microbe digestion (Reencle) or bokashi … | Bioremediation |
| Upcycled food ingredients Functional proteins, fibres and lipids recovered from food-industry side streams — okara, spent grain, brewer's yeast, coffee grounds — and returned to the … | Bioremediation |
| Upcycling biowaste into valuable products Conversion of agri-food and industrial biowaste into higher-value non-food products (biochemicals, biomaterials, bioactive extracts, biochar) via enzymatic … | Bioremediation |
| Urban biorefineries & biowaste processing Turning the wastewater treatment plant itself into a multi-product factory — extracting struvite fertilizer, recovered cellulose and PHA bioplastic from sludge … | Bioremediation |
Opportunities 6
| Grant | Crafting routes to a circular economy European Commission | Sep 23, 2027 351 days |
| Grant | Deploying circular systemic solutions through living labs in cities and regions (Circular Cities and Regions … European Commission | Apr 8, 2027 183 days |
| Grant | International dimension of the circular bio-based economy: seeking win-win opportunities European Commission | May 11, 2027 216 days |
| Grant | Circular innovative advanced materials: facilitating the transition from design to markets (RIA) (Innovative … European Commission | Feb 2, 2027 118 days |
| Grant | Improving biomass flows for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy European Commission | Sep 22, 2027 350 days |
| Grant | Innovative circular solutions for end-of-life footwear through collection, sorting and recycling European Commission | Sep 22, 2027 350 days |