Dear Reader,

With 2023 coming to a close, the first anniversary of the LIFE BIOBEST project is also approaching - an anniversary, which very appropriately falls on the same day as the EU obligation to separately collect bio-waste comes into effect, 1 January 2024.

In its first year, LIFE BIOBEST has achieved several significant milestones: 

• Two co-creation meetings, organised by ACR+, which focused on identifying barriers and engaging local authorities in adopting best practices and key performance indicators; 
• A webinar, hosted by ZWE, which addressed the challenges of collecting bio-waste in high density areas;
• A joint task group of experts, organised by ECN, which sought to define the quality standards and methodology calculations for bio-waste and compost;
• Two mirror groups, organised by CIC, which focused on identifying barriers limiting the bio-waste data collection and management in Member States;
• An appearance at the green technology expo Ecomondo, where the project was presented by CIC and ECN; and lastly
• The first in-person capacity-building workshop, organised by ZWE, which brought together all Consortium partners to share the preliminary findings of the project with participants from the Supporting Stakeholders' Network.
  

The LIFE BIOBEST Consortium

World Soil Day: recognising
the importance of soil

Today, 5 December 2023, marks the 9th celebration of World Soil Day. Adopted by the United Nations in 2013, World Soil Day is a day to reflect on and raise awareness of the significance of soil in our ecosystems - and what we can do to ensure its continued health across the European Union and beyond. 

Considering that 95% of all food comes from soil, the devestating consequences of neglecting our soil cannot be understated. In the EU, it is estimated that between 60-70% of all soils are unhealthy, affecting not just food security, but also ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

At the centre of the LIFE BIOBEST project is a drive to improve the health of our soils. This principle guides all other actions and intended outcomes, as ultimatively, LIFE BIOBEST has one goal: to close the gap in the biological cycle to enrich our depleted soil with high quality compost.

You can help spread awareness by liking and sharing our campaign for World Soil Day on social media, which you can find here.

Towards high-performing separate collection systems
for bio-waste

On 25 October, the LIFE BIOBEST project had the opportunity to organise its first capacity-building workshop "Unlocking Efficiency: Strategies for building a high-performing municipal bio-waste system" in Barcelona, where 45 experts and stakeholders gathered to learn from and expand on best practices for building efficient systems for bio-waste. 

Lauriane Noirot, Project Officer at ACR+, and Manon Jourdan, Implementation Officer at ZWE, have co-authored a detailed account of the day. Read on to learn more about the preliminary results of the project, as well as the challenges and best practices that were presented during the workshop.

Missed out on joining the event?
We encourage you to check out the recording of the workshop, which can be found at the bottom of the blog, and to join our next capacity-building event in early 2024.

Upcoming events and publications in 2024

With the first year of the LIFE BIOBEST project coming to a close, we look forward to the first quarter of 2024, in which the Consortium will publish several key outputs. 

These key outputs include a policy brief on regulatory barriers by ENT, and several guidelines on the promotion of quality compost and digestate by ECN, separate collection by CIC, and governance and economic incentives by ENT, as well as a factsheet on frontrunners' communication strategies by ZWE. 

We are also happy to slowly lift the veil for our next in-person capacity-building workshop, which will take place in Grenoble, France in March. Be sure to check out the LIFE BIOBEST webpage for news about the event, or follow our hashtag #LIFEBIOBEST on social media for weekly updates.

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Copyright © 2023 BIOBEST. Copies of this publication – also of extracts thereof – may only be made with reference to the publisher.