Latest advancements within work package 2 of Waste2Green project show promising microalgal strains and nutrient availability for food-industry wastewater valorization
Food-industry wastewater represents an underexploited resource with significant potential for circular bioeconomy applications. Within the Waste2Green project, funded by EIT Food, researchers at the Institute of Sustainable Processes of the University of Valladolid (ISP-UVa) are advancing two interconnected lines of work: the physicochemical characterization of food-industry wastewaters and the selection of microalgal strains capable of growing in them efficiently.
Initial wastewater analytical results reveal that a substantial fraction of nutrients is present in dissolved form, ensuring bioavailability for microalgal uptake and informing the design of subsequent cultivation experiments and further process development.
In parallel, the team is conducting a systematic microalgae strain selection process, combining environmental isolates obtained from a food-industry wastewater treatment facility with well-characterized laboratory reference strains. This dual approach will enable researchers to identify candidates with strong potential for adaptation to food-industry wastewater.
These images show the microalgal diversity collected from the food-industry wastewater treatment site.
Cultivation trials in wastewater have identified several strains with robust growth performance, positioning them as strong candidates for the next experimental phase. Strain selection is a critical determinant of process viability, since the success of any microalgae-based valorization strategy depends on organisms that perform reliably under the physicochemical variability inherent to real effluents.
Microalgal cultures growing on food-industry wastewater during cultivation trials.
These results set a solid foundation for the next phases of Waste2Green, bringing the project closer to a scalable solution for food-industry wastewater valorization through microalgae.
