LIFE F3: how a LIFE-funded project helped turn packaged food waste into a circular feed ingredient and build a market across Europe

The LIFE F3 project, co-financed by the LIFE Programme, successfully demonstrated innovative technologies to transform packaged former foodstuffs (products originally made for human consumption that are no longer suitable for sale) into high-quality animal feed ingredients. The solution implemented by Belgian company Trotec NV at its plants in Veurne (Belgium) and Albon (France), is being replicated as a third factory in Poland and active commercial discussions are ongoing in Spain. At the Veurne plant, the process has also given rise to a new pet food product line, currently in pilot-scale production.

Project Results

LIFE F3 extended Trotec NV's processing capacity by more than 50,000 tonnes per year, exceeding the original target. The project also freed up more than 9,000 hectares of agricultural land, reduced the carbon footprint of animal feed production and cut dependence on imported raw materials, contributing to the EU's objective of climate neutrality by 2050 under the European Climate Law. Packaging materials are separated by type in the same process, directing aluminium, carton, paper and plastic to appropriate recycling streams. Building on these results, Trotec NV opened new production lines for pet food alongside its existing cattle and pork feed business.

A third factory is now under construction in Przasnysz, Poland, and active commercial discussions are underway in Spain. Beyond the scope of the LIFE F3 project, Trotec NV is independently exploring whether certain former foodstuff streams can yield ingredients destined directly for human consumption. As a separate company initiative, a consortium of food companies is currently working through this at a pilot scale in Belgium.

Impact of the LIFE Programme and the C2M support

Beyond funding the technology demonstration, the LIFE Programme supported Trotec NV through the close-to-market (C2M) initiative. Two key deliverables, a business plan and a market study, shaped the company's commercialisation approach directly. The study moved Trotec NV from a broad sense of European demand to a structured ranking of target geographies, with Spain and Poland emerging as priority markets with different readiness profiles. The conservatism of the food processing sector was identified as a customer-conversion risk (the risk of potential clients not buying the products), which led to adjacent entry routes, including pet food and the insect industry, being targeted as faster paths to market. The C2M assistance also informed the decision to pursue a licensing model (allowing other companies to use their technology for a fee) rather than direct commercial expansion, alongside coaching and ad hoc input on business development and market positioning.

"The close-to-market support shaped how we approached commercialisation. The market study moved us from a general sense of widespread European demand to a structured ranking of target geographies most suited for expansion using the technology developed during the LIFE project. Concrete outcomes traceable to this period include the ongoing construction of our third factory in Poland, which will apply the technology developed during the LIFE project. In parallel, active commercial discussions are happening in Spain," explains Sigrid Pauwelyn, Project Director and acting CEO of Trotec NV.

The project also marked Trotec NV's first sustained engagement with European institutions. The company has recently been invited to present at the Sustainable Feedstock Intergroup of the European Parliament, an opportunity Pauwelyn describes as a direct consequence of the visibility built through LIFE. "Without the support," she adds, "it would have taken much longer and maybe the results wouldn't be so nice as we could show them now."

Learn more about the LIFE F3 project in our project fiche.

The LIFE F3 project supports the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, Towards a circular economy: a zero waste programme for Europe and Closing the loop: an EU action plan for the Circular Economy.