Goal:

The Value Chain Generator (VCG) is a transformative smart data platform that collaborates with agri-food and beverage industries to harness natural resources efficiently and sustainably. Utilizing advanced data processing and AI, it identifies and develops circular business models and value chains. Central to VCG is BioLink®, a proprietary algorithm crafted by data engineers and circular industry experts, which optimizes circular solutions for companies, converting by-products and waste into valuable resources and promoting the use of secondary resources. This project's primary aim is to enhance VCG by incorporating new use cases from the brewing industry, complementing existing ones in agriculture, fishery, forestry, and more.

Key objectives include:

• Integrating a broader range of industry-level data sources.
• Enhancing AI models to accommodate larger datasets and the unique requirements of the brewing industry.
• Developing a business case simulation module to facilitate commercialization.
• Testing, validating, and verifying VCG in an operational environment.

Challenges addressed:

To enhance VCG's commercialization efforts and real-world applications, two vital opportunities for development were identified:

• Specialization: Creating BioLink models tailored for specific industries like brewing. This specialization grants a competitive edge through specialized ML models, in-depth value chain understanding, and superior matchmaking capabilities among key stakeholders in the niche market.
• New Feature: While VCG identifies circular opportunities, companies still require investments for operational implementation. To streamline decision-making and implementation, a business case simulation module will be developed. This module will evaluate the economic and environmental impact of new value chain opportunities.
• The broader challenge addressed by this project is the low level of circularity in the EU, which is only 7.2%, as reported in the Circularity Gap Report of 2023, and is declining. The project specifically tackles the challenges of helping brewing industry stakeholders discover cross-sector value chain opportunities, generating business value for all stakeholders, and accelerating the green transition by valorizing and reusing industrial residuals.

Expected benefits:

The project will empower VCG users to explore a wider array of solutions and opportunities while accurately matching partners to expedite the development of circular value chains. Additionally, the introduction of simulations will allow users to assess economic and environmental impacts, facilitating decision-making by comparing and selecting the most suitable pathways. This will expedite the validation process for technical and business models.

Previously, experts conducted evaluations and validations of business models and environmental impacts. Simulations will transform these services into scalable products, advancing the global adoption of circular and sustainable agri-food and beverage systems. It will enable the scaling of impact, as demonstrated with the mid-sized brewery pilot, which resulted in a validated business model that could increase the value of spent grains by over 110% and reduce scope 3 emissions related to spent grains by 83 times compared to current practices.

Award date: 10/26/2023

Duration: 12 months

Partner:

• ANTEJA ECG D.O.O. www.anteja-ecg.com (Slovenia)