Prof. Charles Chunbao Xu Granted RGC Collaborative Research Fund 2024/25 for Advancing Circular Biorefining of Organic Solid Wastes

4 Feb 2026

The Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong SAR Government has awarded the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 2024/25 to a project led by Prof. Charles Chunbao Xu, with Prof. Carol Lin serving as Co Principal Investigator, both from the School of Energy and Environment (SEE), City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), and project team members of the UN-FIRST Programme.

The funded project, “A Biorefining Approach to Converting Organic Solid Wastes into Multiple High Value added Bioproducts”, brings together a cross institutional team of researchers from CityUHK, HKBU, PolyU, and HKUST to tackle the persistent challenge of organic solid waste in urban systems. Rather than treating food waste and yard waste as disposal problems, the project reframes them as valuable feedstocks for sustainable production.

At the heart of the research is an integrated biorefinery platform that converts organic wastes into a diverse portfolio of useful outputs. These include biobased non isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) resins, bio carbon materials, green hydrogen (H₂), methane (CH₄), and other environmentally friendly chemicals. By combining waste treatment with material and energy recovery, the project demonstrates how organic solid waste can be redirected into productive, low carbon value chains.

The feedstocks and biobased products including food waste hydrolysate, biochar, and spent coffee grounds.

The project’s objectives align with the UN-FIRST Programme’s mission to focus on developing sustainable, accessible, and resilient infrastructure solutions. Designed to be adaptable and decentralised, the biorefining approach supports localised waste to resource conversion, making it relevant for cities and communities seeking practical, low carbon strategies for organic waste management—especially in resource constrained environments.

Beyond its technical innovation, the project contributes to UN-FIRST by strengthening the evidence base for circular bioeconomy systems. It offers a scalable and replicable model that integrates waste reduction, renewable energy generation, and sustainable material production within a single framework, supporting future UN-FIRST research, pilot demonstrations, and capacity building initiatives.

The award of this CRF funding represents a meaningful contribution to the UN-FIRST Programme, recognising a science driven solution with clear potential to advance circular urban systems and climate adaptive waste management practices.

We congratulate Prof. Xu on this achievement and wish the team success in completing this sustainable waste-to-value project.

For more information on RGC Collaborative Research Fund projects, please visit the RGC website at: https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/crf/funded_research.html