Waste mismanagement is a significant issue hindering the adoption of a circular economy model in the Western Balkan countries. The agriculture sector represents a large proportion of the bio-waste stream in the rural communities, facing a growing challenge related to insufficient and inadequate infrastructure. Landfilling remains the most applied method of waste disposal, although according to the waste management hierarchy this represents the least desired option. When bio-waste is dumped in landfills, it undergoes anaerobic decomposition (due to the lack of oxygen) and produces methane. Despite efforts to get rid of illegal dumpsites, they continue to thrive and represent a serious public health risk, particularly due to hazardous waste and groundwater contamination. The project aims to engage and empower young people in agro-entrepreneurship actions turning bio-waste into valuable bio-products through innovative circular business models for job creation and environmental protection of rural areas. The project addresses two major issues related to rural areas: unemployment of young people and high amounts of segregated and mixed bio-waste that are not properly managed. In line with the general objectives, these challenges will be addressed through developing capacities of youth workers in recovering valuable nutrients from bio-waste (food waste, manure, sewage sludge, municipal waste etc.) and adapting them for reuse in agriculture, as a fundamental part of shifting WB agriculture away from its current linear model and an integral part of the New Circular Economy Action plan. Apart from the bio-waste management aspects, a Virtual Incubator programme will be dedicated to the challenge of how to design new circular business and marketing concepts for cross-sectorial valorization of agricultural by-products.

The SYMBIO project provides European regional communities with tools and methodological approaches to building bio-based business models based on circularity by-design and industrial symbiosis. Thanks to tools for integrating big data and artificial intelligence, SYMBIO shapes 10 symbiotic business models with high-profitability sustainability replicable at the EU level to increase bio-based products on the market and provides a system to modelling, measure and monitor symbiosis and its social, economic and environmental impacts. SYMBIO methodology will be designed, tested and validated in 12 EU pilot regions (Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Carinthia, Slovenia, Croatia, Andalusia, Bruxelles Capital, Wallonia, Flanders) that have been selected based on the estimation of their bio-based resources defined by raw material availability, socio-economic indicators, intangible networks and infrastructures and potential for development of CBE close-to-market supply chains and current trends. Involving all supply chain actors in a quadruplex approach will help unlock and stimulate local development potential by promoting sustainable, innovative, tangible and participatory pathways to the green transition through an inclusive bottom-up CBE nexus.

The European tourism sector plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth, employment, and social development. However, it faces challenges deriving from its predominant reliance on linear models, causing significant environmental impacts and resource depletion. Recognizing the necessity for a paradigm shift, the VERNE project aspires to accelerate the transition of local and regional tourist destinations toward sustainable and circular models across Europe. VERNE aims to provide an integrated framework for analysing the feasibility and impact of circular interventions in tourism destinations, offering recommendations for authorities, tourism industries, and citizens for the sector's transition into more sustainable business models. In collaboration with public administrations, DMOs, private sector services, industries, citizens and tourists, NGOs, and other stakeholders, VERNE will create and validate a range of systemic, replicable, and scalable solutions, tailored on the real needs and attitudes of these actors. These solutions will encompass diverse approaches and technologies (i.e., digital solutions, improved waste and food waste management, wastewater treatment, use of electric vehicles, etc.) and will cover several sector and services for tourism . The VERNE solutions will be implemented and demonstrated in 5 European representative tourist destinations (VERNE Pilots). The project's outcomes will be incorporated into new business models, providing a quantified demonstration of their effects on the competitiveness and sustainability of existing tourism services. Finally, VERNE will have the ambition to emerge as one-stop-shop for sustainable tourism, serving as a comprehensive hub of expertise, tools, and best practices on sustainable tourism, facilitating the adoption and replication of circular systemic solutions across Europe.

DEEP PURPLE creates a holistic consortium to transform diluted urban bio-wastes, including mixed waste streams, organicfraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), wastewater (WW) and sewage sludge (SS), into feedstock for bio-industry toobtain sustainable bio-products. This revolutionary concept will be implemented in a novel Single-Site Multi-Platform Concept (Biomass, Cellulose and Biogas) to replace current polluting destructive practices with new value added concepts. The beneficial use of bio-waste is obtained by an innovative combination of optimized recovery technologies and novel solutions: the Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB) PhotoBiorefinery. The use of PPB -the most versatile metabolismreported- ensures the adaption to fluctuating and diluted waste streams to support a stable and profitable production chain. Thefirst PPB PhotoBiorefinery in the EU (the biggest worldwide) will be validated in different environmental, economic, logisticand social scenarios. The concept will be implemented by end-users from four municipalities, namely Madrid (ES), Toledo (ES), and the Moravia-Silesia Region(CZ) to transform bio-wastes (OFMSW: 422 t/y, mixed waste: 438,000 m3/y) into high-added value bioproducts:fine chemicals (bio-cosmetics), fertilizers, bio-packaging and self-repairing construction materials. The marketuptake of DEEP PURPLE is facilitated by optimal logistics of bio-wastes conversion (reduction of landfilled OFMSW: 60%, WWTP, solids recovery: 71%), and bio-products quality to favor their commercialization (440 t/y). The integration of valuechains is boosted by relevant stakeholder’s participation and innovative business models, minimizing waste and maximizingbenefits (85 M€ benefits, GHG emissions savings: 11,300 tCO2eq/y in 2025). Key communities (social engagementstrategies) will participate in the new value creation, calibrating the returns of the project like social innovation promotion and creation of new opportunities along the urban value cycle.

Several studies have identified 3 main waste streams that are the most promising for being valorised to obtain bio-based fertilisers (BBFs): (1) manure, (2) sewage sludge, and (3) food chain waste. From these, manure is the largest waste stream, representing more than 70% of the nutrients, but several studies have been conducted in the last 10 years aimed at its valorisation as BBF and have shown that it is a feasible feedstock for obtaining N-rich streams and organic amendments that can be used directly as BBF, but most of them are not suitable to be used as ingredients for centralised high quality fertiliser production due to the presence of pollutants such as heavy metals (mainly Zn and Cu) and organic matter. Sewage sludge and food chain waste have not yet been deeply investigated at the levels required for industrial implementation, such that their fertilising potential is still under-exploited. The ReLEAF project is based on the advancement and widespread demonstration (in 5 technology demonstration sites) of a suite of extraction techniques to produce key BBF ingredients from waste streams prevalent across Europe – sewage sludge, fish processing waste and wastewater, mixed food waste, and agri-food residues. The formulation and production (in 2 sites) of cost-effective BBFs will address the serious issues of externalities (i.e., dependency on foreign supply chains (P and K), and petroleum-based resources (N)) from fertiliser production and use in European soils together with security of supply and waste valorisation. Investigations of the effectiveness and replicability of the BBFs within the varying climate conditions and soil ecosystems of 4 different field demonstration sites, in addition to co-creation activities, will allow for regional engagement with stakeholders to promote widespread acceptance, while industrial involvement will facilitate a rapid scale up and industrialisation of proposed technologies.