The Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy (IAK) of TUD Dresden University of Technology is launching the new EU research project "KijaniBox" to improve the cooling infrastructure in Africa. The project aims to use biological waste from public markets, farms and the food processing industry to provide cooling energy. At three pilot sites across Kenya and Uganda, Application Solution Boxes will be installed to test the feasibility of the developed system solutions. The project brings together 14 institutions from six countries, and will receive EUR 5 million in funding from the EU's HORIZON program.

Climate change is a major challenge, in particular for countries in the Global South. Due to the constantly high temperatures, the refrigeration of food is essential in East and West Africa. The high amount of spoiled food is often due to inadequate power supply and cooling infrastructure. At the same time, more than 50 percent of the waste produced is organic. This is where the "KijaniBox" project comes in: It aims to expand the production and use of renewable energies in East and West Africa for food cooling. The utilization of organic waste addresses the issue of the increasing amount of waste, while at the same time promoting approaches to circular waste management.

The project is coordinated by the Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy at TUD. The team of Prof. Christina Dornack, Maximilian Barth, Pascal Otto and Philipp Witkabel receives support from Beate Brenner and Jan Hauke Montag from TUD's European Project Center (EPC).

Project description on the TUD Dresden University of Technology website

Contact:

Maximilian Barth
Pascal Otto
Philipp Witkabel
Email:
"KijaniBox" on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kijanibox-horizon-europe/about/