GIANT LEAPS urges support for circular proteins, but finds waste reuse can increase environmental impacts

Using food waste and industrial side streams to produce sustainable proteins can retain valuable nutrients and reduce demand for primary resources, but additional processing can also increase environmental impacts, according to a new GIANT LEAPS policy brief calling for more targeted support for circular production.

• GIANT LEAPS recommends incentives for circularity assessments, regional feedstock partnerships and controlled testing of currently unauthorized substrates.
• Its case studies found potential environmental impact reductions of around 16% for cricket production and 3% for a targeted change in microalgae production.
• The brief cautions that nutrient recycling can increase environmental impacts when additional processing outweighs the benefits of replacing conventional inputs.

The EU-funded project’s ninth policy brief, Circularity in alternative protein production, examines how plant proteins, insects, microalgae, microbial products and cultivated meat could contribute to more resource-efficient food systems.

Its central recommendation is to assess circularity across the whole production system. Retaining nutrients and using residual materials can offer benefits, but those gains need to be weighed against energy consumption, treatment requirements, safety and commercial viability.

The brief cites an external assessment estimating that approximately 38-47 million tons of EU biowaste annually represent untapped potential for conversion into feedstocks that retain nutrients. Accessing that material, however, requires safe, traceable supplies in sufficiently stable volumes, alongside infrastructure capable of processing it economically.

GIANT LEAPS identifies gaps in accessible, high-quality data as a significant obstacle. Its researchers encountered a shortage of existing assessments showing how effectively nutrients are recovered and returned to circular protein systems, making comparisons and improvement opportunities harder to establish.

The authors recommend encouraging producers to disclose nutrient recovery and biotransformation data through funding mechanisms, reporting requirements and regulation. They also propose preferential access to public research and development funding for organizations sharing data, while establishing confidentiality rules to protect commercially sensitive information.

Expanded EU-supported data platforms could make assessment results more accessible to researchers, policymakers and smaller businesses. Suggested performance indicators include nutrient recovery, waste-to-feed ratios, bioconversion yields and the Food Circularity Index developed within GIANT LEAPS.

The project’s case studies illustrate why those assessments matter.

For edible insects, the brief recommends greater use of substrates that are not used as food ingredients. Agricultural and food-processing by-products, along with former foodstuffs no longer intended for human consumption, could provide nutrients while reducing competition for land and primary feed resources.

GIANT LEAPS’ quantitative analysis found that replacing feed with food waste could reduce total environmental impacts of cricket production by around 16% at higher substitution levels. That result relates to the assessed production system rather than establishing a reduction applicable to all insect farming.

The brief also highlights insect frass as a potential soil amendment or fertilizer, returning nutrients to primary production. It calls for clear safety guidance and pathways allowing a wider range of low-risk side streams to be evaluated as substrates.

Microalgae presented a more mixed picture. Potential circular inputs include nitrogen and phosphorus recovered from food-processing effluents, carbon from agricultural or processing residues, and captured industrial carbon dioxide. Water removed during dewatering could also be recirculated or used elsewhere.

In the assessed microalgae system, targeted substitution of the carbon source could reduce environmental impacts by around 3%. However, broader replacement of nutrients with circular inputs could increase impacts where additional processing was required.

The authors consequently recommend checking that circularity measures do not transfer environmental burdens elsewhere, including through greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive pretreatment.

For rapeseed, the brief identifies opportunities to convert oil-production residues into food-grade protein isolates and protein-fiber concentrates. It recommends targeted research funding, quality standards and support for integrated biorefineries that use all rapeseed fractions.

A third group of recommendations addresses experimentation with new substrates. The authors argue that regulatory barriers can prevent controlled testing, leaving evidence gaps that subsequently hinder safety assessment.

They propose streamlined research authorizations and a tiered validation approach, starting with research outside the food chain and progressing toward food and feed applications where safety has been demonstrated. Other proposals include case-by-case assessment of waste-derived substrates and funding for reprocessing technologies, biorefineries, waste valorization hubs and fermentation feedstock systems.

Regional partnerships would help connect side-stream suppliers with protein producers, supported by mapping available materials and their characteristics. The brief identifies logistics and achieving economies of scale as continuing difficulties, particularly for smaller businesses.

The document was published before completion of the external review associated with GIANT LEAPS’ periodic or final reporting and may be adjusted. Its recommendations represent the authors’ proposals and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency.

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