ENhancing Bio-nutrient Recovery of Organic Waste (ENBioROW)

Project lead

Jonathan Wagner

Institute

Loughborough University

Summary:

IntelliDigest has developed a bio-upcycling robot, iDigest, that enables the recovery of nutrients from inedible food and agricultural waste into a circular bio-based fertilizer. The use of bio-nutrient produced locally through enzymatic bio-catalysis of food and Agri production waste will make the farmers resilient to price changes in oil and gas which influences the availability of fertilisers. However, wider adoption of this technology is currently limited by the high salt content of the liquid digestate, arising from the salt already present in food wastes.

To address this challenge, this project will research and evaluate novel and efficient separation process to improve the recovery of bio-nutrients from processed food waste. The successful delivery of EnBioROW will enable more farmers to effectively use bio-nutrients to improve crop yield whilst, at the same time, meeting all regulatory requirements.

Academic partner: Jonathan Wagner, Loughborough University

Industrial partner: Ifeyinwa Kanu, IntelliDigest