From Rice Husk Ash to Clean Water
On 20 and 21 October 2026, VALZEO took part in the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 (GBS2026) at The Convention Centre Dublin. The summit was held under the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Its theme was “Bioeconomy for socio-economic transformation and climate action”.
Who represented VALZEO
Two colleagues represented the project:
- María Rodrigo Moya, PhD researcher at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville), presented a poster on natural zeolites as solar photocatalysts for water treatment.
- María Dauder Amat, from SITES Ltd (Dublin), represented the project’s communication and stakeholder engagement work and connected visitors with the consortium.
They also shared VALZEO’s brief for SMEs. It explains how rice husk ash, an agro-industrial residue, can become zeolite-based materials for water treatment and biodiesel production.
Two days of sessions and exchanges
Over the two days, our colleagues followed the plenary sessions and joined workshops and short talks. Topics included:
- creating bio-based lead markets in Europe;
- financing and scaling marine-based solutions;
- metrics and standards for scaling up bioeconomy solutions;
- Europe’s biosolutions ecosystem;
- waste to energy;
- circularity in primary food production.
They also met other participants at the summit’s networking events.
Several messages were directly relevant to VALZEO:
- Scale-up: the main barrier is the step from research to market. Pilot and demonstration facilities, finance and clear demand are needed to cross it.
- Measurable impact: bio-based solutions must show measurable environmental, social and economic results.
- Residues: the summit’s Global Bioeconomy Vision 2040 calls for much greater use of residues, side streams and waste.
Ireland launches BioScale 2030
On 21 October, Ireland launched BioScale 2030, its first national bioeconomy strategy (2026–2030). It aims to “turn research and renewable biological resources into sustainable businesses, new markets and regional opportunities”. Read more in the Irish Farmers Journal.
BioScale 2030 matters for VALZEO. It supports the path the project follows: turning agricultural residues such as rice husk into products of value, and moving laboratory results towards pilot scale and the market.
What comes next
VALZEO will build on these contacts at its final workshop at Ecomondo 2026 in Rimini on 3 November. You can also read our pre-summit article.
VALZEO is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Grant Agreement No 101086354. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
