To conduct research activities to support the repurposing of olive waste to coproducts in a circular economy approach for feeds, functional ingredients, packaging and biogas, demonstrating the feasibility and sustainability of the circular value chain in six Mediterranean locations (Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Algeria and Tunisia).

Specific Objectives (SO1-SO12)

SO1: Olive By-products in Insect Rearing

To explore OB’s role in insect rearing; evaluating insect meal quality, waste reduction, and sustainability.

SO2: In-vitro Testing of Olive Natural Extracts and Insect Meals

To investigate the effects of olive NE, insect meals and their association by means of in-vitro testing.

SO3: Animal Model Testing for Antioxidant Effects

To investigate the effects of olive NE on animal models (ApoE KO mice) to evaluate their antioxidant effects.

SO4: Olive Natural Extracts as Feed Additives

To investigate and demonstrate the use of the olive NE as feed additives for poultry and fish farming.

SO5: Insect Meal as Animal Feed

To investigate and demonstrate the use of insect meal as feed for poultry and fish farming, and evaluate the sustainability of this solution.

SO6: Enhanced Animal Health and Product Quality

To enhance animal health and product quality through NE/insect incorporation into poultry and fish diets.

SO7: Food Packaging Development

To investigate OB’s potential in food packaging to enhance preservation and minimise food losses.

SO8: Biogas Production

To investigate incorporation of animal and insect manure as well as OBs for biogas production.

SO9: Sustainability Assessment

To assess the sustainability of the novel processes and products, and circular repurposing model, in the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus approach through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Environmental Footprint (EFP) evaluation, and a local level WEFE framework.

SO10: Stakeholder Engagement

To enhance stakeholder interactions through a Multi-stakeholder approach and an online ICT platform, engaging stakeholders in the olive oil local value chain and the poultry/fish supply chain.

SO11: Business Model Development

To produce a business model for the OBs for each demonstration local value chain, to facilitate adoption by farmers and stakeholders, thus fostering the growth of the circular economy.

SO12: Engagement and Dissemination

To implement successful engagement (MSA), dissemination-communication activities and training classes to enhance the capacity of farmers, smallholders, and the supply chain with at least 50% of women trainees, to effectively adopt OLIWA solutions. Additionally, to collaborate with other cognate projects in sundry activities, providing joint policy recommendations to reduce barriers and promote accessibility. To implement the FAIR and open science and data principles.

Coordinated by the University of Torino (UNITO), OLIWA brings together 25 partners from Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, and Tunisia. The consortium includes universities, research institutes, SMEs, and NGOs, working together to promote sustainable innovation in the olive industry.

OLIWA Expected Impacts

1. Food Loss and Waste Reduction

Achievement of 25% minimum reduction in food losses and waste through antioxidant and functional biopackaging solutions. The project targets food loss prevention at retailers and consumer levels through new functional biopackaging derived from olive by-products. The combination of Upcycling (improving shelf life through antioxidants and functional biopackaging) and Recovery of OBs and other by products (e.g. poultry and insect manure) of the proposed value chain is expected to achieve in the demonstrations the call target of at least 25% reduction in food losses and waste.

2. Alternative Protein and Feed Development

Creation of sustainable insect-based protein alternatives and natural extract feed additives to reduce dependency on imported feeds. By proposing insects as alternative feed proteins for animals and utilising OBs for insect meal production, OLIWA addresses the EU’s need for sustainable food security and reduced reliance on imported feeds. The project aims for 50-100% substitution of conventional proteins (soybean meal and fish meal) with insect meals, while incorporating olive natural extracts to enhance nutritional properties and reduce antibiotic use in animal feeds.

3. Circular Economy Model Implementation

Development of a zero-waste circular economy model across six Mediterranean countries using olive by-products. OLIWA in this regard bolsters the ambition of zero waste by olive waste utilisation in insect rearing for animal feeding, bio-packaging, and biogas production to achieve the adoption of circular economy based sustainable systems across six Mediterranean countries. The overall objective of this project, “Repurposing OLIve WAste in circular economy solutions for feeds, additives, packaging, and biogas – OLIWA”, is to conduct research activities to support the repurposing of olive waste to coproducts in a circular economy approach

4. Renewable Energy Production and Resource Efficiency

Generation of alternative biogas energy sources achieving 20% increase in utilization of renewable energy within the project. The project targets biogas yields exceeding 599.4 m³ with over 60% from OLIWA alternate sources, including insect frass, poultry manure, and olive waste. KPIs: biogas yields of 700 m³/ ton of poultry waste, 500 m³/ ton of insect frass, and 600 m³/ ton of OB. Maintaining energy conversion efficiency (65% for poultry waste, 60% for insect frass, 70% for OB)

5. Enhanced Food Quality and Shelf Life

Improvement in food preservation through bioactive packaging extending shelf life by 5-20%. KPIs: incorporating and testing at least 3 additives into biodegradable composites developed for packaging, aiming for a 5-10% increase in shelf life, without reduction of their mechanical and barrier properties; improving shelf life by 20% through the further integration of NE/polysaccharides/proteins from OBs and insects thus ensuring biodegradability. The packaging solutions offer improved barrier properties against water vapour and provide antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, surpassing conventional biodegradable packaging materials.

6. Stakeholder Engagement and Economic Benefits

Enhanced collaboration among 300+ stakeholders achieving 5% reduction in food prices and increased farmer revenues. KPIs: include conducting at least 6 focus groups, engaging around 300 stakeholders, and achieving socioeconomic and environmental benefits such as a ~5% increase in farmers’ and stakeholders’ revenues, a ~5% reduction in CO2 emissions, and a 50-75% reduction in OBs overall. The project promotes multi-stakeholder approach through training classes, webinars, and an online collaborative platform to facilitate knowledge sharing and adoption of sustainable practices across the Mediterranean olive oil value chain.

Projetct’s WPs