Future-proofing the Mediterranean agri-food chain through integrated and circular management of contaminant-safe water, nutrients and bioresources – MedInCircle

In the Mediterranean region, the nexus between global dynamics such as climate change, water scarcity and food insecurity, has the potential to lead to highly severe consequences. The agri-food compartment is particularly exposed to such consequences, and urgently calls for the implementation of innovative and eco-efficient solutions. In view of this, the MedInCircle project aims at advancing the state of the art of the circular management of water, nutrients and bioresources, fostering the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient agri-food chain. More specifically, MedInCircle will pursue the development of a modular technological platform targeting the on-site treatment, recovery and valorization of water, wastewater and solid waste arising from typical Mediterranean agri-food activities. The specific objectives of the project involve i) the development of new biological treatments to enable a safe and effective domestic wastewater ferti-irrigation as well as the direct reuse of the collected agricultural drainage water, ii) the recovery and the valorisation of the nutrient content of domestic wastewater and agri-food waste, iii) the upcycling of carbon and nutrients from industrial wastewater under the form of slow-release microbial fertilizers and biostimulants, iv) the evaluation of the fertilizing and the growth-promoting properties on typical Mediterranean crops, as well as the impact on the soil microbiome, of the recovered water and nutrient streams and biological agronomic additives, v) the assessment of the cost-benefit balance of the developed innovation to promote the acceptance and the integration of the proposed technical solutions among the stakeholders of the Mediterranean agri-food chain.
To achieve its objectives, the MedInCircle project will implement a research and development trajectory based on the integration of innovative waste and wastewater treatments and agronomic practices, enabling nutrient recycling and sustainable ferti-irrigation in a Mediterranean rural context. The specific solutions will involve the development and validation up to TRL 4-5 of moving bed membrane bioreactors to biologically treat and decontaminate domestic and agricultural drainage water, high solid anaerobic digestion to recover the nutrient content of agri-food waste and to synthesize plant growth promoting rhizobacteria through the recovered biogas, heterotrophic aerobic assimilation for the synthesis of slow-release nitrogen fertilizers and biostimulants. MedInCircle will pursue its objectives by integrating cutting-edge, multidisciplinary scientific knowledge and innovation potential across the fundamental and applied research. The successful completion of the project will thus enable i) the circular valorisation of waste flows from sewage and agri-food processing to generate liquid and solid fertilizers with specific features that can be effectively and safely applied on agricultural fields, ii) promoting the growth of autochthonous crops by shielding the effects of excess salinity in the Mediterranean soil through the application of halo-protective bioinoculants, iii) capturing the agricultural drainage water, thereby circumventing the contamination of surface water bodies and underground aquifers, and iv) replenishing the nitrate content and abate contaminants in agricultural drainage water through an innovative aerobic biological process integrating the membrane bioreactor and the moving bed biological reactor technologies.
The MedInCircle project addresses the “2.1.1-2022 (RIA) Prevent and reduce land and water salinization and pollution due to agri-food activities” topic, which is part of the “PRIMA Section 2 Multitopics 2022” call. More specifically, the project will bring forward new circular and sustainable management strategies for agri-food activities, concomitantly reducing the pollution due to conventional and emerging contaminants, as well as to salinity, of soils and water bodies.