VALORANT

Valorisation of Agricultural Residues – Optimisation and Recovery Advanced Network Tool

Project

VALORANT is a transnational innovation project that addresses the under-utilisation of horticultural residues in North‑West Europe. Large volumes of residues from fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants are currently generated due to production surpluses, harvest losses and weather-related damage, while their valorisation potential remains largely untapped.

Project Focus

The project focuses on developing and validating cascade valorisation pathways that enable the efficient recovery of high‑value compounds from these residues. A key target group of compounds are polyphenols, which are widely used in nutraceuticals, functional foods, cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications. After extraction of these valuable intermediates, the remaining biomass streams are further converted into value‑added products such as proteins (via insects, algae or fermentation), biochar, biofuels or biogas.

VALORANT takes a place‑based and transnational approach, recognising that residue availability, processing capacity and market opportunities differ across regions. By combining technological development with decision-support tools and pilot demonstrations, the project supports a more resource‑efficient and circular bio‑economy in North‑West Europe.µ

Project Objectives

The VALORANT project pursues the following main objectives:

· Optimise the recovery of valuable compounds from typical North‑West European horticultural residues, with a strong focus on polyphenols.

· Develop cascade valorisation pathways that ensure maximum value extraction from biomass, including the productive reuse of secondary residues.

· Create a joint decision framework that integrates residue characteristics, regional availability, processing technologies and market uptake potential.

· Validate valorisation pathways through transnational pilot actions, assessing their technical, economic and environmental performance.

· Support knowledge transfer and uptake by developing a digital application, training schemes and matchmaking activities for stakeholders across the value chain.

DRANCO's Role

As a project partner, DRANCO contributes its expertise in the treatment and valorisation of organic residual streams to the VALORANT consortium. The company supports the project’s overall objective of maximising value recovery from horticultural residues by contributing knowledge on biomass processing, conversion pathways and sustainable waste-to-resource technologies.

Within VALORANT, DRANCO is involved in the assessment and validation of cascade valorisation routes, focusing on how residual biomass streams can be efficiently converted into useful secondary products after the extraction of high‑value compounds. This includes contributing to the evaluation of technical feasibility, sustainability and integration of downstream conversion options within broader circular bio‑economy value chains.

By participating in transnational pilot activities and knowledge exchange within the consortium, DRANCO helps translate innovative valorisation concepts into practically applicable solutions that can be implemented across different regions in North‑West Europe.

Financial support

EU funding: € 2,6 million

Total project budget € 4,4 million