FEMTO ENGINEERING SRL

Their core work

FEMTO Engineering is an Italian SME specializing in process engineering for agri-food waste valorization and biorefinery systems. They design and build pilot-scale equipment for extraction, filtration, and thermal/enzymatic treatment processes. Their core work involves turning agricultural and food processing residues into valuable products — from bio-active ingredients to biopolymers — by engineering the physical and chemical processing steps at demonstration scale.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FEMTO began with traditional biorefinery engineering — designing multi-feedstock pilot plants for agricultural waste valorization using physical and thermal processes (AgriMax, 2016). They then moved into more targeted biochemical extraction of high-value ingredients from legumes, fungi, and coffee (Prolific, 2018). Most recently, they shifted toward biological degradation of plastics in agri-food waste streams, incorporating living systems like insects and microorganisms (RECOVER, 2020).

Moving from mechanical/thermal waste processing toward biological and enzymatic systems, positioning for the circular bioeconomy's shift from waste-to-product to waste-to-biology.

How they like to work

FEMTO always participates as a partner, never leading consortia — consistent with their role as a specialized engineering contributor rather than a research agenda-setter. With 60 unique partners across 16 countries in just 3 projects, they operate in large EU consortia (averaging 20 partners per project). This makes them an accessible, experienced consortium partner comfortable in complex multi-national teams.

Extensive network of 60 partners across 16 countries built through large Food & Agriculture consortia. Their reach is pan-European despite being a small Italian company, indicating strong reputation in the biorefinery engineering niche.

What sets them apart

FEMTO bridges the gap between laboratory research and industrial-scale production — they are the team that builds the pilot plant and makes the process actually work at demonstration scale. As a specialized engineering SME rather than a research institute, they bring practical process design and equipment-building capability that most academic partners lack. Their progression from physical processing to biological systems means they can now handle both conventional and bio-based process engineering.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AgriMax
  Largest funding (EUR 149,390) and their foundational project — flexible multi-feedstock biorefinery processing covering the full value chain from waste to packaging.
• RECOVER
  Represents a significant pivot toward biological plastic degradation using insects and earthworms — unusual combination of engineering with living systems.