Upcycling agri-food waste through upscaling industrial applicability and business case modelling

Express your interest in SMAR3TS secondment - Your opportunity at UPC BarcelonaTech (Barcelona, Spain)

This I3X challenge is initiated by UPC BarcelonaTech within the SMAR3TS project and requires a secondment with a minimum duration of 30 days (to take place starting from Dec 2025). Fully funded by the European Commission, the four-year SMAR3TS project started in October 2025 and unites 35 partners worldwide to accelerate resilient, restorative and regenerative transitions through research and innovation mobility.

For more info: please see details in the attachments.

Please note: the secondments are open only to SMAR3TS Consortium Partners.

Necessary skills and capabilities across disciplines

• Development of industrial pilots with cosmetic, pharma and food industries
• Advanced knowledge of separation and purification processes for critical raw material extraction
• Business case modelling scenarios
• Further development of technologies (e.g., in smart film food packaging)

Examples of challenges that need to be addressed

- Testing and applicability of technologies in the industry (e.g., testing the upcycling process of agri-food waste for fuel production, chemicals and materials, feed and food ingredients);

- Business case modelling and scalability assessment scenarios of upcycling agri-food waste (e.g., on the Spanish market in olive oil; winery; fruits and juices industries);

- Regulatory assessment scenarios – EU level

- Domain - Bio-based Economy: building the value chain for antioxidants production

- Testing the recovery processes of polyphenols from agri-food waste including olive oil and wine industries through a circular economy

- Validation of extraction, clean-up and concentration of polyphenol extracts from olive and wine waste (in connection with LIFE CYCLOPS project)

- Market and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

- Test of bioactive polyphenols in the industry

- Collaboration in wastewater valorization and material recovery

- Soil quality and waste recycling processes

- Digital technologies for food waste reduction and improvement of food logistics

- Development of food systems

- Open Innovation and business model innovation – role of technologies (e.g., AI) in agrifood systems

I3X at UPC BarcelonaTech – About the initiator

1. Background info

​The Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM Barcelona) at the UPC BarcelonaTech is a multidisciplinary hub at the forefront of materials science, in the fields of micro and nanoengineering, nanotechnology and biomaterials.

2. Research Group/Company Department

R2EM group is developing research activity on development of sustainable urban and industrial waste management cycles based on resource recovery approaches promoting circular solutions of waste to product and waste to energy. Research also involves efforts on developing environmental remediation solutions for soils and ground water remediation, process and environmental monitoring and environmental risk assessment on ports.

Link to the website: https://multiscale.upc.edu/en/research/r2em

Contact: Prof. Jose Luis Cortina, jose.luis.cortina@upc.edu

See attachment: Expertise and available technologies at UPC BarcelonaTech within SMAR3TS project and examples of strategically relevant I3X Initiatives.

Alignment to Work-Packages:

SMAR3TS domains that are relevant to the work of UPC BarcelonaTech organization/research and innovation team are:

• Nutrition: e.g., upcycling process of agri-food waste, sustainable food packaging
• Mobility: sustainable mobility and digitalization, processes for critical material recovery and reuse in the mobility sector
• Energy: energy recovery, energy transition, reducing energy consumption

Alignment to Resilience, Restoration, Regeneration (R3)

• Regenerative food production and recycling
• Regeneration processes in the pyrometallurgical industry
• Restoration: recovery and reuse critical raw materials for the future of mobility
• Restoration: maximizing water reuse and water recovery through smart, circular and integrated solutions for sustainable energy use and production

Note:

The expression of interest for the secondment at UPC BarcelonaTech must be submitted via the platform. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and you will be contacted as soon as possible. For any questions, please contact: info@smar3ts.eu