Agrimax recently took part (24th – 26th September) in the EU Research and Innovation day Science is Wonderful exhibition in Brussels.

Aimed at the general public and in particular school children from the Brussels area, the event saw over 500 children come to our stand. Our UK partner BioVale and Spanish partner AIMPLAS explained how the project is tackling crop and food waste by building two flexible, multi-feedstock biorefineries in Spain and Italy.

On display we had a range of products that the project is developing e.g. food cans with a cutin coating – made from tomato waste the coating stops the food coming into contact with the metal packaging. We also had compostable and biodegradable plant pots made from potato fibres and bioplastic and a spongey material called mycelium – a packaging material made from cereal waste, both of these products will be used by the agricultural sector.

We challenged the children to match the Agrimax feedstocks (cereals, potatoes, tomatoes and olives) to the correct end product, we had mixed answers as it is harder than anticipated to match everything correctly! However, the main thing is we inspired and educated the younger generations about what can be done with waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill or animal feed.