๐ฑTurning food scraps into plant power, directly where they are produced. โป๏ธย
This week, we are setting up the ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ at our technical demonstration site in Vienna, the ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ, as part of the ReLEAF Project EU.
Together with our partner AERIS Tecnologias Ambientales SL, we are bringing an innovative approach from the lab into a real-world environment.
To support the setup and run the first fermentation batch, Jana Font i Pomarol from AERIS joined Nils Klose and Marco Hartl in Vienna. The bioreactor, developed by AERIS, will allow us to test a novel process: producing ๐๐ข๐จ-๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐-๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
Hereโs how it works:
๐ฝ๏ธ Food scraps from the restaurant at the Kleine Stadtfarm are mixed with wood chips.
๐ The mixture is inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum, a beneficial fungus known asย ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ซ.
๐ฌ๏ธ Inside the bioreactor, the material undergoes ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐-๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง with a constant oxygen supply for about six days.
The fungus uses the food waste as a substrate to grow and develop its biostimulant properties.
The result: ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ โ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐, ๐๐ข๐จ-๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ.
Once applied to plants, Trichoderma ย colonizes their roots – helping them grow stronger, extend their root systems, access water and nutrients more efficiently, and improve resistance against harmful fungi.
What makes this particularly exciting is the ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐-๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก:
The food scraps used in the process come from the very same location where the bioreactor operates.
From plate โ to fermentation โ back to the soil.
With the ReLeaf project, we aim to demonstrate how ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐จ-๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐, ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ-๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฌ – bringing circular bioeconomy solutions closer to everyday practice.
Stay tuned as we run the first batches and share insights from the pilot! ๐๐ฟ
#ReLeafProject #CircularBioeconomy #Biofertilisers #SolidStateFermentation #FoodWaste #EUHorizon #Biostimulants #UrbanFarming
