VALORANT

In Northwest Europe (NWE), significant amounts of horticultural residues—from fruits, vegetables, and flowers—remain underutilised. These residues, often from production surpluses, harvest losses, or severe weather, represent untapped waste streams. Polyphenols, bioactive compounds with antioxidant and health-promoting properties, hold value for nutraceuticals, functional foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Efficient polyphenol recovery and repurposing of secondary residues require a common solution tailored to regional differences in residue availability, processing capacities, and valorisation potential.

VALORANT optimizes recovery from typical NWE residues (apple, grape, strawberry, pear, carrot, lettuce, chrysanthemum and gerbera), producing valuable intermediates through various cascade pathways. These extract polyphenols and transform residues into value-added products, with secondary residues repurposed into protein (via insects, algae, or fermentation), biochar, -fuel or -gas. 

VALORANT focuses on: (1) Developing a joint decision framework addressing place-based characteristics (residue availability, relevant markets for uptake), residue properties (physicochemical), recovery processes and valorisation potential. 

(2) Implementing transnational and placebased pilot actions to assess the cost-effectiveness and sustainability and validate valorisation pathways. 

(3) Developing a digital application, a training scheme and matchmaking to promote the joint decision framework across NWE and beyond.

Stakeholders - horticulturists, processors, industries, policymakers, and citizens -benefit from the solution. It reduces waste, supports efficient recovery, and addresses place-based differences in transitioning to a resource-efficient economy.

Building on past work in agricultural waste valorisation, VALORANT is unique in its cascade approach, focus on polyphenols and ability to assess the characteristics and valorisation potential of underused residues