In the fertile region of Navarre, northern Spain, tonnes of vegetable waste and by-products from the agri-food industry are discarded every year — an overlooked resource that could instead help build a more sustainable, circular economy.
These leftovers, rich in nutrients such as antioxidants, fibres and proteins, often end up as waste, representing both an environmental challenge and a missed economic opportunity. The CIRCFOOD project, launched under the Government of Navarre’s 2022–2025 strategic R&D programme, set out to change that by developing technologies to transform these by-products into high-value ingredients and food additives.
At its core, CIRCFOOD aimed to recover plant-based materials — from vegetables to olive oil residues and cereal by-products — and reintroduce them into the food chain. Using advanced extraction and processing techniques, researchers evaluated the nutritional and functional potential of the resulting bio-ingredients and explored their scalability for industrial use. The goal was to create viable, sustainable processes that could enhance food quality, extend shelf life and improve sensory characteristics.
The project operated through a collaborative consortium bringing together key players from across the value chain:
-
Agri-food companies including Urzante, IAN and Harivenasa, which supplied raw materials and explored sustainable business models;
-
Technology SMEs such as Ingredalia, Isanatur and Nucaps, specialising in natural ingredient extraction and bioavailability enhancement;
-
Research centres CNTA and AIN, which provided expertise in industrial processes and sustainability innovation.
Together, they sought not only to curb waste but also to create new value chains and business opportunities rooted in resource reuse.
CIRCFOOD’s work rested on four main pillars of circular economy practice:
-
Resource efficiency, transforming waste into secondary raw materials like fibre- or antioxidant-rich ingredients for functional foods;
-
Pollution reduction, cutting agrochemical residues and CO₂ emissions associated with landfill disposal;
-
Sustainable production, shifting from a linear “take–make–dispose” model towards circular systems that reduce water and input use;
-
Waste minimisation, giving priority to applications for human consumption, such as food additives or substrates for bioprocesses.
By the end of the project, six commonly discarded food materials had been successfully repurposed into healthy, functional ingredients with strong nutritional and sensory appeal.
The initiative offers a compelling proof of concept: that industrial symbiosis and technological innovation can drive both sustainability and competitiveness in Europe’s agri-food sector. CIRCFOOD demonstrates how collaboration across business, science and policy can help turn waste into opportunity — and make the circular economy not just an ideal, but an achievable model.
