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RELEASAFE

Bio-based and biodegradable controlled-release fertilisers for safe and sustainable agriculture

Programme: HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025

Duration: 42 months, September 2026 – February 2030

Partners: Aitiip, Rodenburg, Landlab, Evoenzyme, Holoss, Leitat, Van Iperen, Cener, Australo, Tecno.

Objetive: 

The RELEASAFE project aims to develop and validate next-generation, fully bio-based and biodegradable controlled-release fertiliser (CRF) systems. To this aim the project is based on a threefold approach:

  • Sourcing and processing underutilised regional biomass side-streams—including kraft black liquor, reclaimed potato starch, and pruning waste—into advanced, sustainable, and eco-designed biopolymer matrices and structural carriers.
  • Optimising material formulations through custom crosslinking strategies and the integration of tailored, latent hydrolytic enzymes that act as biologically responsive triggers to precisely modulate nutrient release profiles.
  • Scaling up the selected compliant formulations to pilot level and conducting comprehensive agronomic and environmental validations—including soil health, metagenomic microbiome, and ecotoxicity assessments—in both greenhouse and open-field trials for maize and tomato crops.

The consortium forms a strong pool of experts along with the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, and advanced materials with a track record managing multi-actor bioeconomy programs. It includes technology providers, biodegradability and agronomic validation experts, environmental and sustainability specialists, an established fertiliser developer and brand owner (Van Iperen).

In this project, Aitiip leads the overall project coordination and the industrial scale-up of the compounding and biopolymeric coating process using pan coating technology for urea granules.

 

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CBE. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Grant Agreement N. 101291202– RELEASAFE – HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-RIA-02

 Co-funded by the European Union