ReWoW
Project that transforms digestate, an organic waste from anaerobic digestion, into high-value bioproducts using innovative bioprocesses and artificial intelligence.
Transforming “waste from waste” into a driver of the circular bioeconomy
Anaerobic digestion (or biomethanisation) enables the conversion of the organic fraction of waste into biogas through the action of microorganisms in the absence of oxygen. However, the solid fraction of the digestate remains a complex organic by-product, with limited productive uses and potential environmental impacts.
ReWoW (‘Revolutionizing the Waste of Waste: A new bioeconomy-based business for digestate’), coordinated by Òscar Martínez, researcher at the Composting Research Group (GICOM) of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Biological and Environmental Engineering at UAB, proposes a disruptive approach to valorise this “waste from waste” and convert it into a key raw material for a new circular bioeconomy.
The central technological solution is Modular Adaptive Fermentation (MAF), a next-generation bioprocess that combines microbial bioconversion with AI-driven optimisation for process modelling, decision-making and real-time process control. The project will design and validate a modular system capable of converting the digestate into three high-value bioproducts: biosurfactants, flavours and enhanced organic amendments. The success of ReWoW could lay the foundations for a transformative biorefinery model centred on anaerobic digestion, supporting new business models and regulatory advancements, and positioning digestate as a cornerstone of an alternative circular bioeconomy.
With a planned duration of 36 months, ReWoW is one of three projects selected coordinated by Catalan entities and one of five funded across the whole of Spain under the EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 call, which supports visionary ideas to develop radically new technologies with a high-risk, high-impact approach.
Participants
The project is coordinated by Òscar Martínez, a researcher at the Composting Research Group (GICOM) of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at UAB, and features an interdisciplinary consortium of eight partners from four different countries. The consortium brings together expertise in microbiology, engineering, environmental sciences, artificial intelligence, economics and politics.
Role of the PRUAB
The UAB Research Park leads the communication, dissemination and exploitation tasks for the project's results.
Period
- Start date: To be determined
- End date: To be determined
(Project duration: 36 months.)
Funding
ReWoW has obtained nearly 3 million euros under the EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 call, an instrument of the European Innovation Council (EIC) that is part of the European Commission's Horizon Europe research and innovation framework programme.
The EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 call has a total budget of over €140 million to fund 44 selected projects, involving 71 countries, aimed at transforming frontier science into disruptive technologies with the potential to create new markets.
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