BIO² consortium visits Sweden to explore S360’s circular sanitation

We are so happy to be part of the BIO² project, a 4-year Horizon Europe initiative under the Farm to Fork strategy, bringing together 20 partners from across Europe to develop scalable bio-based solutions for organic agriculture.

The project addresses a key challenge in today’s organic farming systems: many widely used inputs—such as copper-based plant protection products, conventional composts, and certain animal health treatments—can still have negative impacts on soil health, biodiversity, and long-term sustainability.

BIO² responds to this by developing and scaling a new generation of alternatives based on underused biological resources and circular processes.

What BIO² is developing

The consortium is working across three main innovation areas:

Microbial crop protection agents
Bio-based solutions that act like “probiotics for plants”, protected with advanced formulations to improve field stability and effectiveness.

Bio-based fertilisers
Nutrient sources derived from side-streams such as fish processing residues, seaweed, and recycled nutrient streams.

Natural animal health solutions
Including microbiology-based immune support tools and plant-derived compounds aimed at reducing dependency on conventional veterinary inputs.

These solutions are co-developed, tested, and validated with organic farmers across Europe to ensure real-world applicability.

Consortium and roles

The BIO² consortium spans research institutes, universities, SMEs, industry partners, and farming organisations across 8 countries:

Coordination & project leadership:
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) leads the project coordination, ensuring integration across all technical and demonstration activities.

Research & microbial innovation:
Partners such as Nofima, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Università degli Studi di Milano, and Universität Rostock contribute expertise in microbiology, bio-based materials, and agricultural science.

Agricultural testing & farm integration:
Organisations including NEIKER, Rovensa Next, Fertinagro Biotech, and farmer networks such as Norwegian Agricultural Advisory Service and Norsk Landbruksrådgiving Ås are responsible for field trials, validation, and scaling in real farming systems.

Industrial and innovation partners:
Companies such as AZTI and Innovation Acta support process development, formulation, and innovation transfer.

Swedish contribution:
Sanitation360 contributes circular sanitation and nutrient recovery solutions, including real-world demonstration systems where biological nutrient streams are recovered and processed into fertiliser products.

Project meeting in Uppsala

As part of the recent consortium visit to Uppsala, partners gathered at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) to discuss ongoing development and see demonstration environments for circular nutrient recovery systems.

At SLU, project partner Sanitation360, represented by our co-founder and CTO, Prithvi Simha, presented its living lab system for urine-based nutrient recovery, where nutrients are stabilised and processed into a concentrated fertiliser directly in an office bathroom. The system illustrates how side-stream nutrients can be integrated into broader circular bioeconomy approaches within BIO².

As part of the visit, the consortium also saw how the technology has been scaled beyond the campus. In Uppsala, a football stadium called Studenternas has been retrofitted to collect and recycle urine from up to 10,000 spectators—demonstrating how circular sanitation can be applied in high-traffic public environments.

Looking ahead

BIO² is ultimately about transforming how organic farming systems source nutrients, protect crops, and manage animal health—by replacing high-impact inputs with scalable, biologically based alternatives.

The consortium brings together complementary expertise across science, agriculture, and industry to ensure that solutions move beyond research and into practical use across Europe.