The UAB coordinates the EIC Pathfinder project to transform waste into high-value bioproducts
The ReWoW project, led by researcher Oscar Mauricio Martínez from the Composting Research Group (GICOM) of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, will use artificial intelligence and innovative bioprocesses to give value to digestate, a currently undervalued by-product of anaerobic digestion.
ReWoW (Revolutionizing the Waste of Waste: A new Bioeconomy-based business for digestate) has obtained nearly three million euros under the EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 call. This programme, managed by the European Innovation Council (EIC), supports visionary ideas that develop radically new technologies, with a high-risk, high-reward approach and that have the potential to create future markets.
This year's call awards more than 140 million euros to 44 projects involving 71 countries. With a duration of 36 months, ReWoW is one of three selected projects coordinated by Catalan entities and one of five awarded throughout Spain.
A disruptive proposal for the circular bioeconomy
The solid fraction of digestate is a complex organic by-product, generated as a result of anaerobic digestion (also known as biomethanation). This biological process takes place in the absence of oxygen and allows part of the organic matter of organic waste to be transformed into biogas thanks to the action of microorganisms. Digestate, which can be considered a “waste of waste”, currently has limited productive use and carries potential environmental effects. ReWoW proposes a disruptive approach to valorise digestate and transform it into a valuable raw material for a new bioeconomy.
The key technological solution is the development of Modular Adaptive Fermentation (MAF), a next-generation bioprocess that combines microbial bioconversion with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven optimisation. The system will use a dual-layer AI tool for modeling, decision-making, and real-time process control.
The project will design and validate a modular system to convert digestate into three high-value bioproducts: biosurfactants, aromas and improved organic amendments. “The success of ReWoW can lay the foundation for a transformative biorefinery model around anaerobic digestion, supporting new business models and regulatory advances and positioning digestate as a cornerstone of an alternative circular bioeconomy,” explains Martínez.
The ReWoW consortium is interdisciplinary, combining expertise in microbiology, engineering, environmental sciences, AI, economics and politics, and is made up of eight partners from four different countries. Among the consortium's member entities is the UAB Research Park, which will lead the communication, dissemination and exploitation tasks of the project.