ECOSMART:2 will demonstrate the smart integration of a novel, enhanced anaerobic digestion (AD) process with solar technology to form the basis of a circular economy model, providing affordable, clean, secure energy access. Through development and operation of the ECOSMART:2 modules, new integrated UK-Nigerian enterprises and supply chains will be established, aligning social and gender considerations with economic and environmental benefits. With a focus on valorising agri/food waste streams (e.g. cassava and water hyacinth), ECOSMART:2 will ensure a high proportion of beneficiaries are women and those on low incomes. ECOSMART:2 will build on the consortium's expertise, utilising locally available materials and low-cost components to ensure affordability, and reducing feedstock retention time through system design to to accelerate the AD process. It will also produce soil amenders and fertiliser to replace expensive, synthetic fertilisers, thus supporting local, sustainable agricultural practices. With a 4.5-year payback, this model of affordable, low carbon, secure bioenergy will tap into Nigeria's £7.45Bn microgrid market to support enterprise and capacity building opportunities with operator training and local manufacture as well as up-skilling both upstream and downstream enterprises/supply chains for the provision of feedstock and the sale of energy and fertiliser. AD and control systems will be adapted by UK SMEs for global commercial opportunities. With a focus on flexible energy use and affordability, advances in demand-side management and microgrid technology, ECOSMART:2 presents developing countries with an opportunity to leapfrog expensive, centralised infrastructure.

COVID-19 has uncovered inherent weaknesses, inequities and system-wide risks in global food systems, increasing the urgency to foster pathways to greater food system sustainability and resilience. This project will address these challenges with a solution that simplifies supply chain logistics, strengthens local economies and boosts community resilience. SOURCE UK is an advanced circular food system that combines food waste management with the production of nutrient-dense food using hydroponics and closed-loop recovery of nutrients, water and renewable energy. Current hydroponic practice predominantly uses energy-intensive synthetic fertilisers. Using AD by-products (biogas, recovered nutrients and CO2) will significantly decarbonise future hydroponics. The approach extends food production into cities, processing organic waste on-site and yields locally grown food. On-site waste management and food production will generate green training and employment opportunities and divert organics from overburdened landfill sites. The project will prototype the SOURCE UK AD and digestate management system, build an innovative circular business model, develop the service blueprint and evaluate stakeholder requirements. It will also and assess SOURCE UK's potential social, economic and environmental impacts, working with external parties to base assumptions on real site-specific data and preparing the foundation for potential demonstrations at each site.

Less than 25% of Malaysia’s annual 42M tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) is recycled. The organic fraction represents a wasted 13.1TWh while 6.3M tonnes of plastic ends up in landfill annually. SYMBIOTIC exploits synergies between food and plastic waste recycling. Participatory stakeholder engagement activities designed to encourage behaviour change will support communities to separate wastes and increase recycling rates. A decision-support tool will be created alongside a circular economy business model framework. Designs for Phase 2 urban regeneration activities utilizing SYMBIOTIC’s organic by-products will be developed. The project aims for >50% female participation (SDG5), generating clean, secure, affordable fuel from food waste during Phase 2 for local community and business use (SDG7). It will target women and those on low incomes with CE business models (SDG8); combine innovative technologies to support local infrastructure (SDG9) and replace fossil fuel use, reducing landfill GHG emissions (SDG13).

ECOSMART explores the techno-economic feasibility of smart integration of a novel, enhanced anaerobic digestion (AD) process with solar technology to form the basis of a circular economy model. It will establish an integrated UK Nigerian supply chain, aligning social and gender considerations with economic and environmental benefits. Its focus on valorising cassava, yam, corn and mixed market wastes will ensure a high proportion of beneficiaries are women and those on low incomes. ECOSMART will build on the consortium's expertise, utilising locally available materials and low-cost components to ensure affordability, and reducing feedstock retention time through system design to process waste and generate biogas 4x faster than conventional Continuous Stirred Reactor Tank (CSTR) systems. It will also produce soil amenders and fertiliser in a ratio beneficial for soil management, thus supporting local, sustainable agricultural practices. With a 4.5-year payback, this model of affordable, low carbon, secure bioenergy will tap into Nigeria's £7.45B minigrid market to support enterprise and capacity building opportunities with training planned at later stages of the project to support local manufacture. Control systems will be adapted by UK SMEs for global commercial opportunities. The focus on flexible energy use and affordability will advance demand-side management and minigrid technology, so developing countries can leapfrog centralised infrastructure to pioneer innovative, more equitable models of generation, distribution and use.

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