The project mobilizes complementary and multidisciplinary knowledge and skills from academia and industry.

The INGREEN project, currently about halfway through, is well on track, despite interruptions from COVID-19 restrictions. According to Prof. Lanciotti, the project’s scientific coordinator, “this is due to the strength of the project consortium based on complementary and multidisciplinary expertise from academia and industry, able to synergistically interact to maximize the INGREEN impact.” The project draws from the following disciplines, namely: food, environmental and industrial microbiology, analytical and food chemistry, nano- and bio-technologies (e.g. fermentation and enzymatic conversions), feed and food science and technology as well as scale-up engineering.

Both specific and broad knowledge on the considered side streams and by-products, and on the now available processing plants, are covered by the large industries as well as by small and medium-sized enterprises that are part of the INGREEN consortium. There is close collaboration between the technology developers and industry partners who will demonstrate the newly developed sustainable technologies in real operational environments. They have high aspirations of commercializing the project outcomes to enhance market and business opportunities and to strengthen interconnection among industrial sectors, with at least one cross-sector exploitable output.

Skills are brought together concerning the use of biotechnological approaches, operating sustainably in industrial environments, industrial symbiosis and process integration, nutrition and health, environmental and economic assessments, and engineering solutions (e.g process control, optimization, and automation), as well as the deep functional characterization (in terms of safety, shelf-life, and functionalities) of the INGREEN outcomes.

The INGREEN consortium consists of four research and innovation partners, four large enterprises, eight small and medium-sized enterprises, and a membership organization. Our 17 partners are located in ten countries throughout Europe, namely: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.