The Project and its Objective
Funding instrument and scheme
Horizon 2020 - Innovation Action
Grant agreement ID:
101036428
Call for proposals:
H2020-LC-GD-2020 (Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: Research and innovation in support of the European Green Deal)
Topic:
LC-GD-3-2-2020 - Demonstration of systemic solutions for the territorial deployment of the circular economy
Start date
1 October 2021
End date
30 September 2026
As the horizon 2020 program defined several priority challenges where targeted investment in research and innovation can have a real impact benefitting the citizen, the project was funded under the “Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials” one.
EcoeFISHent was designed as an Innovation Action consisting mainly of “activities directly aiming at producing plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services” in the fishing side-streams sector.
EcoeFISHent goals in a nutshell.
To streamline the fishing industry operational flows, including its industrial side-streams. Establishing a climate-neutral regional reproducible cluster based on the bio/blue/green/circular economy approaches.
With a proper focus on valorization of the related waste, for pre-treatment and extraction of bio-active components and for recycling end of life fishing gear from aquaculture and fisheries. To supply the food, automotive, cosmetic, and packaging industries. Providing fertilizers and biodiesel for agricultural applications as well.
The concept
The project core concept moved from the design, development, and deployment of an innovative bio-mass pre-treatment, coupled with specific extraction technologies meant to enable sustainable and efficient utilization of fish processing side-streams (FPS) by obtaining bio-actives and galantine for high value-added food supplements and skin care products, biodegradable, and compostable barrier layer for food packaging. Furthermore, other fishing industry side streams will be targeted in order to transform their outcomes into fertilizers, biodiesel, components for cosmetic applications, polymer-based automotive constituents, and packaging for cosmetic products.
Such innovative outcomes will be made possible by means of a symbiosis systemic approach, with the creation of links inside different industrial domains: food supplements, cosmetics, packaging, bio-conversion products, soil improvers, automotive, looking beyond fishing and aquaculture to reveal synergies with stakeholders interested and possessing capabilities to derive and/or provide value from fishing and fish industry side-streams (FFS) and co-products (FCP).
The Six Circular Value Chains (CVCs)
EcoeFISHent demonstrates a replicable systemic and sustainable cluster for territorial deployment of the climate-neutral circular economy, by creating six multilevel and synergic circular value chains (CVCs), interconnecting blue- and green-economies to reconcile human industrial and economic activities with marine ecosystems and marine protected areas:
CVC 1. From FISH to food
CVC 2. From FISH to cosmetics
CVC 3. From FISH to cosmetics
CVC 4. From fish to soil
CVC 5. From soil to soil
CVC 6. From fishing nets to cars and packs
EcoeFISHent territorial cluster
The EcoeFISHent socio-economic territorial cluster is composed by several actors, belonging to different sectors and organization types: production companies, raw materials suppliers, services providers, companies in related fields, and public institutions.
The cluster contains three types of connections:
1. Vertical – between provider and manufacturer along the value chain;
2. Horizontal – between manufacturers of complementary products;
3. Institutional connection – between companies and public institutions.
Cluster Digital Twin
A Cluster Digital Twin (CDT) will be designed and implemented to support the definition of the Cluster Business Model and to support simulating, designing and implementing the optimal cluster configuration and its replication in environments and territorial clusters.
It was planned that the Cluster, once defined and implemented, will make use of a cloud-based platform for its management activities, and will exploit the Internet of Things for secure, effective and efficient management its logistics infrastructure.
On top of this, critical and best scenarios for analysis of the cluster performance via dedicated KPIs will be made possible via a specific business model making use of a cluster digital twin, enabling the assessment of the cluster replicability in other geographic domains fostering prospective investments.
Work packages
Plastics & Bioplastics circular system development & implementation (PROPLAST)
Dissemination, exploitation and cluster local communities involvement (TICASS)
Management and coordination (FILSE)
Ethics requirements (FILSE)
