A InsectERA aims to enable the industrialization and commercialization of innovative products based on insects, both in the food sector (animal and human nutrition) and in other industries (cosmetics or bioplastics) or in the innovative sector of bioremediation.
The Mobilizing Agenda covers the entire innovation cycle, from R&D to the manufacture and sale of products on the market, based on technologically advanced production. It represents a set of projects and business initiatives aimed at fostering the circular economy and leveraging the development of new products, services and solutions with high added value, making it possible to respond to the challenge of the green transition towards environmental sustainability.
Through this Mobilizing Agenda, the consortium aims to respond to the sector's new needs, particularly those arising from the increase in the world's population, climate change and food waste, with the aim of creating a more sustainable sector based on a circular economy.
Thus, the InsectERA Agenda is based on 4 main axes based on market needs:
→ InFood: using insects as a healthy and sustainable alternative nutritional source in innovative food products (axis led by Thunder Foods);
→ InFeed: use of insects as a nutritional source for more sustainable and locally sourced animal feed (axis led by FeedInov);
→ InIndustryuse of insect-derived products to develop new raw materials for industries such as cosmetics or bioplastics (an axis led by IST and in which InPP is involved);
→ InBiorremediationUse of insects as a bioremediation tool and solution to environmental challenges, such as the disposal of livestock effluents and urban organic waste (axis led by INIAV).
The aim of this consortium is to develop and produce another product - InFrass, dedicated to the use of organic fertilizers generated from insect waste. Thus, this material produced by insects in the InFood, InFeed and InBiorremediation axes will be used in development and manufacturing work in the InFrass axis (led by InPP), generating new product lines.
InFrass axle: The process of biodigestion of organic matter generates a high quality organic fertilizer, which is fast and stable to produce and ready for direct application to the soil. This product, called Insect Frass, is made up of insect waste and decomposed material (axis led by InPP).
The Agenda also includes two initiatives that will provide cross-cutting support, positioning the training work upstream of the products generated in the axes above:
→ Raw materials and productionThe aim of this project is to map and secure the raw materials for each main axis, carry out tests and develop new techniques and optimizations for the production of insects from different raw materials and their storage (axis led by IO);
→ In4.0 - Digitalization, industry and automation: aims to increase insect production capacity by applying automated systems, new techniques and processes for processing insects and digitalizing production, with new production management and traceability software, resulting in productivity and efficiency gains for producers (axis led by INEGI).
Alongside these two cross-cutting areas, the consortium will evaluate the developments and products and services generated in each of the main axes from the point of view of human, animal and environmental health, as well as according to the legal context and consumer perception, within the framework of two major downstream axes:
One Health - All of the products and services generated in the various axes of the project have an impact on human, animal and environmental health. For this reason, this axis aims to carry out risk assessments and product quality and safety studies, including assessing the ecotoxicity of products (axis led by the MS);
In2Market- conducts a wide-ranging study of the entire sector as a way of ensuring the transition of new products to the market (axis led by P-BIO).
InsectERA is co-financed by the Next Generation EU Funds, through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
Português
English