Increasing sustainability by waste reduction and material cycles are one of the big challenges we are facing today.

Marianne Claessens, scientific advisor at VLAIO, (Flander’s Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship), is evaluating the participation of Flanders in the FACCE SURPLUS project.

Heather McKhann, coordinator of the FACCE JPI, is commenting on the FACCE Surplus project.

As the ERA-NET FACCE SURPLUS is coming to an end, it is time to look back on the interesting results from the research projects and evaluate their overall impact.

Producers of Cichorium crops produce significant quantities of by-products and waste fractions that have so far yielded little. However, they contain valuable components. Semi-finished products from the biorefinery of Belgian Endive roots can serve as an ingredient for food and drinks or as a raw material for the production of bioplastics. Within the CichOpt project, researchers are investigating how these waste fractions and by-products can provide real added value for the Belgian Endive grower in the future.