WELCOME TO THE INTELWASTES PROJECT

INTELLIGENT VALORISATION OF AGRO-FOOD INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The INTELWASTES project (2soft/1.2/83) is funded by European Union through the Joint Operational Programme Romania – Republic of Moldova 2014-2020 – https://ro-md.net/.

This project is funded by European Union

Project duration: 18 months.

Start date: September 2020.

End date: February 2022.

The INTELWASTES (2SOFT/1.2/83) project envisages research and innovation in the field of intelligent recovery of industrial waste, obtained from the processing of grapes, fruits and vegetables, as well as reducing the impact of this waste on the environment, improving quality of life and economic development in Moldova and Romania.

The relevance of the project

Poor management of agro-food industrial wastes over the last few years affects rural communities, threatens the environment and contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. In the context of economic growth, volume and diversity of generated waste, waste recycling is a local, national and international priority. The cross-border impact of the Project consists in the formation of joint research-innovation teams with complementary competences in solving common problems – agro-food industrial wastes management, by supplying the existing laboratories with specific equipment: TUM – elaboration of methods for preserving the functionality of waste for its subsequent processing, analysis and extraction of active biological liposoluble compounds from agro-food industrial wastes, exploitation of bioactive components in the food industry; “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” IULS – analysis and extraction of active biological hydrosoluble compounds from agro-food industrial wastes, elaboration of the technology for obtaining natural sorbents, usable for water purification from solid fractions of agro-food industrial wastes, including after extraction of bioactive components. The cross-border impact will include the systematization of information on the type and quantity of agro-food industrial wastes produced by both Moldovan enterprises and the cross-border area of Romania, the way they are managed and the creation of a common database and the elaboration of a Good Practice Guide for intelligent waste recovery in the Republic of Moldova and the cross-border area of Romania for enterprises which process grapes, fruits and vegetables. The cross-border impact of the Project will rely on results dissemination through scientific publications, organization of conferences, seminars and workshops with agro-industrial producers and stakeholders, so that they can actively develop effective practices of using agro-food industrial wastes. The joint issues approach to the intelligent valorisation of agro-food industrial wastes will contribute, on a long-term basis, to the correct management approach of environmental problems in the Republic of Moldova and the cross-border area of Romania, which is an important aspect in the context of the Republic of Moldova’s association with the EU.

Beneficiaries:

  • Technical University of Moldova, Research Centre “Food Processing, Food Quality and Safety”.
  • “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi University of Life Sciences, Iasi, Romania, Faculty of Horticulture.
  • Processing enterprises of Grapes, Fruits and Vegetables from Republic of Moldova and the cross border area of Romania.