Solid Organic Waste Into Sustainable End-products

SOWISE+ is a Horizon Europe / Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking project that will demonstrate a first-of-its-kind multipurpose biorefinery for the valorisation of urban biowaste and post-consumer absorbent hygiene products. By transforming organic urban waste into polyhydroxyalkanoates, in particular PHBV, and recovering high-quality cellulose from AHPs, SOWISE+ will showcase an innovative model of urban-industrial symbiosis and support Europe's transition towards a circular bioeconomy.

The project will scale up technologies developed in previous European initiatives and integrate them into a flagship biorefinery hosted by Contarina in Italy. Through this industrial-scale demonstration, SOWISE+ will produce bio-based materials and products suitable for market applications, while also assessing their sustainability, social acceptance, commercial potential and replication across Europe. Acting as a lighthouse investment, the project aims to prove that urban waste can become a valuable resource for new circular value chains.