BIOREGIO www.interregeurope.eu/bioregio/

BIOREGIO PROJECT: Goοd Practices for Biological Streams in Central Macedonia Region

Stamatia Kontogianni1, Apostolos Malamakis1, Sofia- Natalia Boemi2, Chrysanthi Kiskini2, Nicolas Moussiopoulos1

1 Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

2 Department of European Union Projects, Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia, Region of Central Macedonia

The BIOREGIO project is funded by the INTERREG EUROPE interregional cooperation programme 2014-2020 (https://www.interregeurope.eu/bioregio) and aims to stimulate the European circular economy in the field of organic waste / waste streams. With eight partners from six different countries, the BIOREGIO project seeks to influence economic policies in terms of efficient use of organic resources and strengthen regional bio-economy. The project promotes know-how on best available technologies as well as cooperation models.

The application of circular practices may seemingly be an initiative coming from the business sector, but the Regions are the ones that can facilitate the transition from the linear to the circular economy. The Regions can provide support to relevant stakeholders by giving them access to knowledge and information as well as networking opportunities. Through the exchange of knowledge, the organization of events or the setting up of information exchange platforms, the

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regions can facilitate activities and bring together local and regional actors such as businesses, public utilities, universities and research centers, as well as civil society organizations.

The BIOREGIO project has already set up local stakeholder groups in each area of the participating partners. Stakeholders from both the private and the public sectors in Central Macedonia Region compose the local group. Representatives from business groups, academic and research institutions, local authorities and regional decision-makers are members of the team in each region. Members are carefully selected and frequently informed on the interregional level activities of the project where good practices and policies are presented together with high-level information exchange on technology, funding and strategies in force. Participants at regional level are encouraged throughout the project to actively participate and share their views on cyclical economy and bio-economy. The ultimate goal of the project is to direct regional policies in the direction of supporting good practices and promoting the actions of the European Union through the actions of each region.

Among the BIOREGIO project activities is the collection and evaluation of seven different good practices per participating country in order to disseminate them actively to the rest of the European Union regions and facilitate their replication, all of them are reported through the learning platform enabled by the Interreg Europe programme (https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/).

Each BIOREGIO good practice has a significant impact in local bioeconomy and fulfils the following criteria:

1. Promotes circular economy.

2. Is related to biological materials, in other words, products are composed of substances originally derived from existing compounds in nature.

3. Promotes social and environmental sustainability, as well as economic growth

4. It is resource efficient and economically feasible.

5. Minimizes waste directly or indirectly according to waste hierarchy whose objective is to maximize the benefits of the products, whereas the generation of waste is reduced.

6. Encourages closing the loops and emphasizing longer cycles/cascades.

7. Includes joint actions (discussions/cooperation/business) between different stakeholders: RDI, government, companies and consumers.

8. It is most likely transferable and scalable in different European regions in line with the objectives of the Interreg Europe programme.

Hereafter the identified good practices in the Region of Central Macedonia for the 1st half of the project duration are presented. More information may be found also on the Good practices section of the BIOREGIO project website.

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Aim: Bioenergy and fertilizers from livestock, energy crops and organic waste

Description: The facility is private and collects locally available farm manure and organic waste for free. The substrates are transported by trucks to the facility and are anaerobically digested on-site. The produced biogas is utilized in a generator unit, while the digestate is either returned to the nearby fields as soil amendment or separated and the solid fraction is packed into big bags and sold as organic fertilizer.

The main stakeholders and beneficiaries of the facility (who also own livestock farms and cultivations) use the vast majority of the generated fertilizer at their cultivations. In addition, neighboring farming facilities are collaborating offering their facilities’ waste to the biogas facility without the obligation of payment. This constitutes a "win-win" situation in the area since farmers are disposing their waste in a sustainable manner and facility operation minimise the local CO2 impact. All aforementioned as well as local population are the beneficiaries. Finally yet importantly, the energy generated by the facility is provided to the national grid (under an agreed cost per kWh).

In 2017 the facility produced 8,5 GWh renewable electricity, while CO2 savings were estimated at around 494.700 kg. During that year the facility processed: 70.000 t liquid cow manure, 5.000 t poultry manure, 1.000 t pork manure, 6.000 t cheese whey, 2.000 t olive mill by-products

Aim: Use of organic residues for energy production

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Description: BIO2CHP combines two established technologies, gasification and internal combustion engines, which are brought together through an automated control system, allowing energy production in small-scale applications at a price 3-4x lower than the grid (based on the average EU price). A working pilot was developed under EU LIFE+ financing and has proved its potential for operation in real life conditions. It has operated for more than 3,000 hours, using grape pomace, olive & peach kernels, almond shells, etc., producing heat & power on-site. The whole system is included inside a container and operates automatically with minimum intervention. The system uses the raw residual biomass that is currently treated as waste or goes to low added-value channels, for the on-site heat and power production, minimizing both energy and waste handling costs. Results showed that for every 50kWel unit, 156 tn CO2eq per year can be saved which is equivalent to the electrification of 22 typical households.

Added value: Compared to other waste-to-energy systems the main differentiating characteristic is the scale / size (<150kW electric), while also the ability to use untreated residual biomass focusing on agro-food industry wastes. Up to date there are no efficient alternatives in the market in such scales which can deal with the waste disposal and - mainly electrical - energy needs of small and medium agro-food industries effectively. The potential for learning and/or transfer the knowhow and the technology to other sectors is thus of enormous importance and in complete agreement with the company’s / team’s vision of enabling small-scale power production from raw residual biomass and establishing zero-waste processes as a benchmark in the agro-food industry.

Aim: Implemented platform for public sector, research and entrepreneurship cooperation to boost the regional economy.

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Description: The CLuBE is a non-profit legal entity established among local actors and stakeholders of the Region of Western Macedonia, Greece. CluBE emerged since the beginning of the 20th century from the continuous collaboration of regional players during previous projects. The cluster is developing R&D and business activities in the fields of bioenergy, bio-based circular economy and environment, in order to reinforce smart, bio, green and circular economy in the region and the neighboring area. The core of the cluster is to find new collaboration possibilities among its members and to promote their activities through the implementation of new projects.

CLuBE succeed the actual cooperation among 3 regional governmental authorities, 5 universities and technological institutes located in 3 different regions in North Greece, and 12 companies dealing with heating, biomass, waste management and consulting covering the entire triple helix of the regional bioenergy and environment sector. The cluster collaboration has developed successful new cooperations among its members as well as R&D products. 12 new members are waiting to join.

Added value: In order to develop bio-based circular economy, a wide cooperation between companies, universities, local authorities and other stakeholders is needed. CLuBE stands for a successful example of how long term cooperation between small and large scale actors in a specific sector can be successfully built and continued. Moreover, it can help identify and mobilize relevant synergies and perspectives in other Regions as well, providing the actual case for the paradigm shift.

Aim: non-profit educational organization offering training to people of all ages, from kindergarten to adults

BIOREGIO www.interregeurope.eu/bioregio/

Description: The School's mission is to educate men and women to become professionally accomplished in the latest aspects of agriculture, bio-based circular economy and life sciences. All educational and research projects at the AFS are supported by the large-scale Educational Farm that includes the Holstein Friesian dairy herd that is ranked among the top 10% in the world; a poultry unit using the latest research for Omega 3 egg, broiler and turkey production; greenhouses; vegetable gardens; vineyards; fruit and olive trees; and extensive field crops at its satellite farm to the west of Thessaloniki.

AFS employs a holistic model to treat and recycle its solid and liquid waste since the farm includes 120 cows and 100 calves, 22,000 turkeys and 15,000 chickens. The treatment facilities include a two-stage activated sludge plant. Generated biogas form the sludge is utilized in electricity generation to cover own needs. Generated water is stored during the winter months and is used for irrigation from May to September. Moreover, AFS promotes recycling since it has appropriate bins for plastic, paper, glass and aluminium in designated areas.

AFS is trying to keep track of modern developments. In particular, recently it received funding for a project aims to tackle major issues in inefficient and unsustainable farming practices. This will be succeeded through the incorporation of smart farming and smart processing in a view to minimize carbon footprint. The implementation of those good practices will be the connection between high technology with IT and circular economy principles in Agrifood sector.

Added value: This model that includes farming facilities as well as educational activities is unique in the EU. Also, since the staff of AFS is trying to keep on track with the new trends in smart tech arming and circular economy, it represents a good example for knowledge transfer and expertise to similar regions. Moreover, the innovative processes followed at the AFS can assist to reduce carbon footprint of agricultural and bio-stream activities.

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Aim: Production of amino acids for plant nutrition by extracting proteins of (non-Genetically Modified) plant origin

Description: Amino acids’ solution for plant nutrition is produced using as raw material non GMO plant proteins,. There are two main production lines, a) the amino acids solution for plant nutrition and b) an insect attractant solution. The final products are environmentally friendly, safe for humans, animals and beneficial insects. They are biodegradable, as they do not leave any residues on the soil or the leaves.

Amino acids solution is particularly effective assisting the nutrition of all crops resulting to a higher production. The insect attractant is used for the control against the olive fruit fly, the Mediterranean fruit fly and the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi.

They are pioneers in plant origin amino acids production for agricultural use and their main achievements are:

45 years of successful performance in the annual O.F.F. programs conducted by the Greek Ministry of Agriculture

Proved effectiveness of the product lines (Dacus Bait 100, AMINO 16)

Innovative composition and production method of Amino 16 Granted European Patent 2537823 in the field of organic fertilizers

Staffed an in-house R&D team researching and designing new products and 10% of annual revenue invested for experimental purposes.

Added value: The products are unique because of high concentration of 16 L-amino acids of plant origin and they are suitable for use in organic farming (EC 889/2008). Having as active ingredient

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hydrolysed plant proteins, the products are environmentally friendly, safe for use in all cultivations, safe for humans and animals.

The opportunities that are visible through the application of circular economy practices are summarized hereafter:

o Increase investment in biogas plants from agricultural waste for the production of electricity, heat and gas substitutes.

o Replacement of traditional fertilizers (from fossil fuels or extraction of materials) with products resulting from the recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from biogas plants and other pioneer products.

o Reduce food and agricultural waste and increase the efficiency of the agricultural value chain through the circulation of secondary materials.

o Increase revenue for farmers due to increased demand for agricultural products and by-products for the production of green products (bio-economy).

To fulfil the aforementioned opportunities in regional level the major leverage is the Operational Programme of the Region of Central Macedonia 2014-2020. The integration of criteria that promote Good Practices of Circular Economy in the upcoming funded programmes is a stepping-stone towards this direction.

o BIOGAS LAGADA SA- http://www.biogaslagada.eu/ o American Farm School- http://www.afs.edu.gr/ o BIO2CHP- http://www.bio2chp.com/ o Cluster for Bioenergy and Environment (CLuBE)- https://clube.gr/en/ o Greek Industry of Hydrolysed Protein (EVYP LLP)- http://evyp.gr/en/

For their overall collaboration involving participation to the activities and organized events in the frame of BIOREGIO project as well as for the raw data input for the determination of all the Good Practices aspects in the Region of Central Macedonia.

o BIOREGIO LHTEE- http://aix.meng.auth.gr/lhtee/index.html

o BIOREGIO RDFCM- https://bit.ly/2NSSIMo

o Interreg Europe. BIOREGIO – Regional circular economy models and best available technologies for biological streams. https://www.interregeurope.eu/bioregio/

o Policy Learning Platform System. Interreg Europe. https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/