The UAB coordinates an EIC Pathfinder project to transform waste into high-value bioproducts

ReWoW (Revolutionising the Waste of Waste: A new Bioeconomy-based business for digestate) has secured nearly €3 million in funding under the EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 call. This programme, managed by the European Innovation Council (EIC), promotes visionary ideas that develop radically new technologies, with a high-risk, high-reward approach and the potential to create future markets.

This year's call awards more than €140 million to 44 projects involving 71 countries. With a duration of 36 months, ReWoW is one of three projects selected that are coordinated by Catalan entities and one of five awarded in Spain.

A disruptive proposal for the circular bioeconomy

The solid fraction of digestate is a complex organic by-product generated as a result of anaerobic digestion (also known as biomethanisation). This biological process takes place in the absence of oxygen and allows part of the organic matter in organic waste to be transformed into biogas thanks to the action of microorganisms. Digestate, which can be considered a “waste of waste”, currently has limited productive use and has potential environmental impacts. ReWoW proposes a disruptive approach to valorising digestate and transforming it into valuable raw material for a new bioeconomy.

The key technological solution is the development of modular adaptive fermentation (MAF), a new-generation bioprocess that combines microbial bioconversion with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven optimisation. The system will use a dual-layer AI tool for modelling, decision-making and real-time process control.

The project will design and validate a modular system to convert digestate into three high value-added bioproducts: biosurfactants, aromas and improved organic amendments. ‘The success of ReWoW can lay the foundations for a transformative biorefinery model based on anaerobic digestion, supporting new business models and regulatory advances and positioning digestate as a cornerstone of an alternative circular bioeconomy,’ explains Martínez.

The ReWoW consortium is interdisciplinary, combining expertise in microbiology, engineering, environmental sciences, AI, economics and politics, and is made up of eight partners from four different countries. Among the members of the consortium is Parc de Recerca UAB, which will lead the project's communication, dissemination and exploitation tasks.