On Wednesday, May 13th, 2026, ICRA hosted the kick-off meeting of the European project VALORBIO (Valorising agrifood wastewater through advanced biorefining techniques for sustainable packaging solutions), coordinated by ICRA researcher Maite Pijuan.

The project, funded under the Water4All 2024 Joint Transnational Call on Water for Circular Economy, has a total budget of €1.3M and brings together an international consortium comprised of research groups from TU Delft (Netherlands), Aarhus University (Denmark), INP-Grenoble (France), KTH (Sweden), and Imperial College London (United Kingdom).

VALORBIO aims to develop a sustainable and circular platform to transform wastewater from the agrifood sector into biodegradable bioplastics intended for food packaging applications. Through advanced biorefining techniques and the use of bioreactors, the project seeks to valorize the organic matter present in this wastewater, converting it into biopolymers that can lead to new, more sustainable materials. This approach contributes to moving towards a circular economy model where wastewater is no longer considered waste but rather a source of value-added resources.

The meeting held at ICRA served to present the general overview of the project, review the different work packages, and define key aspects of the project’s management and dissemination strategy. The gathering also included a tour of ICRA’s facilities.

One of the highlights of VALORBIO is the involvement of industrial stakeholders from both the agrifood and packaging sectors, which is crucial to ensuring the transfer of results to the market. In this regard, the project features the participation of Liquats Vegetals and Anela Fruits, who will supply agrifood wastewater and act as future end-users of the developed bioplastics, with the opportunity to test packaging prototypes with their own products.

With this kick-off meeting, VALORBIO begins its journey toward contributing to the development of innovative, circular, and sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment and the production of new biodegradable materials for the agrifood industry.