Project name:

FOCUS

Project introduction:

The basic objective of the project is the development of an innovative mushroom cultivation technology for sustainable resource management that is based on circular biowaste utilisation optimised for the urban environment. 

Detailed description of the project:

The concept is to transform the cultivation system of oyster mushroom and other wood decaying mushrooms into a modular, attractive, and easy-to-use system that can operate in the urban environment, valorising the locally available bio-waste, mainly coffee grounds, while producing food. The spent mushroom substrate is already suitable for final use as mulch in parks. The urban bio-waste recovery technology to be developed in the project will achieve outstanding results in three fields: 

• urban mushroom cultivation, 
• urban biowaste utilisation and 
• coffee grounds remediation. 

All three fields are facing significant changes and challenges in their own way, and the technology resulting from the project can provide a real solution tailored to market needs. The key innovative element of our project is to combine these three fields to find a solution for the selective collection of coffee grounds for households, public institutions, office buildings and restaurants that can stabilise it against microbiological degradation, and to remediate the aromatic components at the point of origin through the cultivation of oyster mushroom and other wood decay mushrooms. The extracellular lignolytic enzyme system produced during mycelial growth of white-rot fungi, such as oyster mushrooms, can degrade the aromatic ring very efficiently. This provides the exceptional opportunity to use the fungal mycelium as a biotechnological tool for the bioremediation of phytotoxic substances present in coffee grounds. 

The actuality of this topic is that from 1 January 2024, the separate collection or on-site recovery of biowastes is mandatory for EU Member States (Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council). According to Eurostat data for 2019, biowaste accounts for more than one third of the 249 million tonnes of municipal solid waste generated annually in the 28 EU Member States, i.e. 86 million tonnes. Although coffee grounds are generated in large quantities year after year (15 million tonnes/year), it is little known that they can be phytotoxic when released into the soil due to their high phenolic content. Currently, coffee grounds are part of the biowaste fraction of municipal solid waste, together with other kitchen waste, so the diversion and separate collection of this fraction from landfills risk of releasing more and more phenolic compounds from coffee grounds into the soil, which will eventually degrade the fertility of soils. 

The project’s objectives and expected outcome will contribute to the conversion of biomass waste streams into food, which is in line with the circular economy approach and the EU’s ‘bio economy’ concept.

Amount of fund:

337 130 000 Ft

Intensity:

72%

Partner:

Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem

Project ID:

2024-1.1.1-KKV_FÓKUSZ-2024-00083

Time of implementation:

01.01.2025-31.12.2026