In the United Kingdom, the University of Portsmouth is playing a major role in a European project using agricultural and fisheries waste to develop sustainable methods and products to improve soil quality and reduce CO2 emissions.
The Horti-BlueC project received €3,353,732 funding from the European Regional Development Fund to increase the use of new circular economy solutions in the coastal areas of England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The circular economy is one that exchanges the typical cycle of make, use, dispose in favor of as much re-use and recycling as possible.
The goal is to replace non-renewable horticultural resources such as chemical fertilisers, pesticides and growing media with local and renewable agriculture, food and fisheries waste. This waste can then be turned into bio-energy, biochar, a soil amendment that can hold carbon in soil for years, and a biodegradable material called chitin to use as soil substrates and fertilisers.