The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality aims to ensure that residual flows in the Netherlands are used as high-quality as possible. This is already successful for many residual flows. A very challenging residual flow is organic kitchen waste. Also known as swill. Think of all food scraps. Unfortunately, it is now only fermented or composted.
Back in the day, the peeler came by households for their kitchen waste. He collected it and was then used to feed his animals. Especially for the pigs. A high-quality application!
Unfortunately, this is no longer allowed, because of the too great risk of spreading contagious animal diseases. This is because there are also animal leftovers within the swill.
That is why we are looking for other ways to use organic kitchen waste for as high-quality purposes as possible. For example, by processing the swill into biobased raw materials, or the more direct use as (structural) materials. We are also open to other applications!
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality really wants to help with through this challenge, because of its possible impact. Think of all food scraps in the Netherlands that we can use much more useful and with which we can save new (fossil) raw materials.
Do you have a (partial) solution for this challenge? Then we would like to receive your pitch!
Wat are we looking for?
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is looking for an innovative way to effectively and safely reuse kitchen waste on step 4 on Moerman's ladder: raw materials for industry (biobased economy) (more information [link to background info]).
This can be done by processing the swill into biobased raw materials, or using it more directly as (structural) materials. We are also open to other applications!
At its core, the goal is to achieve higher quality utilization of organic kitchen waste than composting and fermentation. The manner in which is free.
With this challenge, we mainly focus on residual flows from catering and industrial kitchens as a first step. It is easier to collect, and it is also expected that these residual flows will be less polluted with non-organic substances. Ultimately, of course, it would be fantastic to be able to use the residual flow from households.
In terms of solution, we prefer to see that (in the long term) a good business case can be made, so that the solution can enter the (commercial) market independently. At the same time, we understand that this is not always certain at this stage.
Scalability is also important: we prefer to see solutions that can (eventually) be rolled out in large quantities.
What are we not looking for?
We are not looking for a way to use kitchen waste as human food or animal feed. Due to European regulations, this is currently not an option in the Netherlands. Also as food for invertebrates (such as insects) is not yet permitted.
Why are we plotting this issue?
Many innovations are still needed to solve this challenge. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality cannot of course do this itself. That is why we invoke the innovative power of the market! We like to encourage the development of solutions with the ultimate goal that they can be marketed independently. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is therefore not a customer itself.
What is there to win
- An innovation budget of up to € 25,000.
- The chance of a follow-up assignment after the program.
- A 3-5 month guidance program in which you can take both the solution and the company to a higher level. You can find more information about the program and the various components on our programme page.
- Access to the government network.
Questions
Questions about this specific challenge you can ask on the discussion page till the 8th juli 2020. Questions about the programme and registration procedure you can find on the FAQ-page.
Registration
You can register by submitting a Proposal (here). This may not be longer than 6 A4 + 3 A4 attachment (in the same document).
The further requirements of this proposal and how it is assessed are set out in the formal Request for Quotation (pdf download). Read it carefully!
Send in with your proposal a completed UEA (Uniform European Tender Document (docx download)). Save this as a PDF.
By participating you also agree to the General Terms and Conditions for purchasing services and assignments: ARVODI-2018 (pdf download).
The proposal may be submitted in any form (presentation / slide deck, letter form), but must be uploaded as a PDF file (landscape or portrait A4) (max. 30MB).
Pitches in English are allowed.
Timeline
- 17 juni - Challenge live
- 8 juli - Deadline asking questions
- 28 juli, 17:00 - Deadline for proposal
- 10 augustus - First selection
- 31 augustus - 4 september - Live pitch round
- 5 oktober - Final selection decision
- 2 november - Start of Startup in Residence programme
Backgroundinformation
