EU Pumps €7M in Microbial Fermentation Project to Scale Up Waste-Derived Proteins
The Proscale project has received €8.5M in funding, most of it from the EU, to scale up single-cell proteins using food industry waste and continuous fermentation.
A new pan-European initiative aims to accelerate the food system’s green transition by producing microbial proteins on a large scale with food industry sidestreams.
Titled Proscale, the pilot project has an overall budget of €8.5M, of which €6.9 comes from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2B partnership between the EU and the Bio-Based Industries Consortium that funds projects advancing the circular bioeconomy in Europe.
“Proscale aims to accelerate the transition toward more sustainable, resilient, and resource-efficient protein systems by developing innovative approaches for the production and scaling of single-cell proteins produced by continuous fermentation,” Nesli Sozer, research professor at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (which is coordinating the project), said in a LinkedIn post.
The initiative has received a STEP Seal award from the European Commission, a rare honour for biotech projects that recognises high-quality innovation aligned with the EU’s economic and climate goals.
Sozer called it “a strong recognition of the project’s scientific excellence, innovation potential, and strategic relevance for Europe’s future competitiveness and technological sovereignty”.
Low-waste, single-cell proteins fit into EU’s climate ambition
Proscale will kick off in September and run until 2030, with the consortium of 16 members looking to expand the production of high-quality alternative proteins by scaling up continuous fermentation processes for fungal, yeast, and bacterial single-cell proteins.
Unlike short-term batch production, continuous fermentation involves feeding materials into bioreactors while the finished product is being harvested. This improves yields and lowers costs, tackling two key bottlenecks for this industry.
The project uses food industry sidestreams to feed the microbes during fermentation. These include processing residues from potatoes, wheat and vegetables, as well as byproducts from baking and pasta production.
The researchers will combine upstream and downstream process innovation with a digital twin platform to optimise resource efficiency, lighten climate impacts, and ensure that the protein ingredients are multifunctional, safe and scalable.
These will have over 50% protein on a dry basis and include mycoproteins, yeast proteins, and bacterial proteins for use in meat and dairy alternatives, sports nutrition, health-conscious products, and staples like bread and pasta.
Meanwhile, by applying a cascaded, minimal-waste approach, co-products are reintegrated into the production cycle or transformed into non-food applications, such as converting sidestreams into methane and CO2-derived compounds, or developing palatability enhancers for pet food.
The EU-backed project comes a year after the bloc set legally binding goals for all member states to cut food waste by up to 30% from households and 10% in processing and manufacturing waste by 2030. Currently, this results in financial losses of up to €132B and accounts for 16% of the region’s emissions – but experts say the waste-reduction targets fall well short of what’s needed.
Climate activists have also urged the EU to name advanced fermentation and single-cell proteins as covered technology categories in the Biotech Act II, which is set to be published in Q3 2026 with a focus on agricultural and industrial biotech.
Proscale outlines climate, capacity and consumption goals
The Proscale project aims to provide a competitive advantage over similar products on the market by improving cost, taste, and sensory acceptance. In addition, it seeks to demonstrate the versatility of single-cell proteins, and their ability to enhance palatability, nutrition, and in vitro digestibility.
Enabling the use of cost-effective, waste-derived fermentation substrates is a key goal of the initiative. These will be developed by applying innovative methods to remove or detoxify growth inhibitors, eliminate or transform non-fermentable suspended solids, and optimise substrate formulation.
Another goal is to develop a more circular, zero-waste approach for the cascaded use of co-products, and optimising the resource efficiency of fermentation processes to achieve at least a 40% reduction in climate change impact.
Proscale also seeks to implement a multi-actor approach to ensure targeted communication of project outcomes and policy briefs, with the ambition of developing business models and value proposition strategies to enhance the future market entry and consumer acceptance of the project’s ingredients.
The CBE JU website outlines several expected impacts of the project, including growing company revenues by €850M by capturing up to 10% of the single-cell protein market and licensing advanced feedstock transformation know-how.
The effort is set to boost resource efficiency by 40-60% by leveraging underutilised sidestreams, improve climate neutrality by 20% across its processes, and enhance the circularity of its solutions by 2-7% by using co-products for pet food or traditional applications.
Moreover, Proscale is targeting a tenfold increase in fermentation capacity to support the long-term potential of large-scale protein production in the EU and is expected to reduce emissions and water use by 60% compared to conventional protein production.
“We are looking forward to turning this vision into tangible solutions that support sustainable food systems, strengthen Europe’s bioeconomy, and contribute to long-term food security,” noted Sozer.