BioBoost platform
Currently society in general (including industry) are throwing away all types of materials, often without any plan for alternative uses or best practice. Our lives and choices are still dominated mainly by fossil based raw materials and energy sources. In addition, one third of the food we produce in the world is wasted.
With rapidly decreasing natural resources, increasing waste and food security issues, we need to be thinking about new strategies for solving these problems collectively and collaboratively. This requires a paradigm shift towards a sustainable biobased circular economy with minimal to zero waste.
We have to revalue all types of materials so that ultimately we can make the best use of them. The circular bio based society also offers many business opportunities. However, before we can take these opportunities we need to become aware of them, which is one of the aims of this web platform. There are already an increasing number of examples, but they are often difficult to find. Therefore, another purpose of this platform is to provide a centralised point for information and knowledge exchange.
The BioBoost Platform aims to inspire, connect and stimulate biobased initiatives with horticulture world wide.
Get an overview, find inspiration, connect with experts, publish your own initiative and attract potential business partners.
An example: Tomato stems utilised in the production of a cardboard box in which the tomatoes are packed.
The horticultural sector produces large quantities of food and ornamental plant products. This also produces a considerable amount of 'green waste', such as stems and leaves, but also unsaleable vegetables and fruit. These residual flows are often thrown away, composted or converted into biogas.
Commercial initiatives and research projects show that both residual flows and specific crops can be used for high-quality purposes; they can be used to make materials such as cardboard, for animal feed or food or even for cosmetics, fine chemicals or pharmaceutical applications.
The horticultural sector can develop into an important supplier of plant-based plant substances; research and product development are being carried out and the first examples show that there is (a starting) market for specific cultivation for plant compounds as well as the use of plant-based residual flows.
This interactive platform aims to facilitate the sharing of good examples online, including background information. You can find innovative applications as well adding new examples yourself. The more examples we gather on the platform the better we can stimulate circularity and a biobased development.
In addition to the inspiring initiatives, we also provide insight into more detailed documents. Much research has been done in recent years and knowledge is already available about the use of residual flows and by-products from horticulture. In our document overview we share public knowledge about other possibilities with horticultural crops.
The use of specific plant ingredients is, depending on the use, positive for health, the environment and society. The use of green horticultural residual flows is positive for the environment, to combat climate change and also to reduce food waste. There are examples that the footprint of products is reduced by using residual flows instead of new raw materials.
A high-quality use of these plant ingredients and residual flows can also lead to extra income and new business for the horticultural sector and other companies in the chain.
There are many traditional peoples in the world who use plants for all kinds of applications; from consumer goods and building materials to natural medicine. Because there is a growing group of people who want to live with fewer artificial products and also want to use nature as a source for their health, cultivation for plant ingredients and/or plants with active substances has great potential.
In addition, a third of the food produced worldwide is currently wasted. About half of it during the cultivation of the crops. Fruit and vegetables are thrown away due to overproduction or because they do not meet the specification due to an incorrect weight, a different size or shape. In addition, there are large waste flows of leaves and stems.
More and more is being done to prevent waste, but the residual flow from horticulture will always remain very large. There is therefore a huge potential of raw materials available for innovative applications.
Besides fruit and vegetables also coproducts (residuals) like stems and leaves are produced but they are hardly used.
This platform exists to inspire, connect and stimulate biobased initiatives within, with and outside horticulture. Our goal is to realize the most valuable possible use of vegetable residual flows. Get an overview, get inspiration, get in touch with experts, publish your own initiative(s) and attract potential business partners.
