To reach carbon neutrality, cities must adopt new, more adapted energy models for urban mobility, relying on zero-emission and active mobility modes. The uptake of sustainable mobility solutions relies on their inclusivity, affordability and safety, as well as their consistency with users’ needs. Through co-creation activities and innovative digital tools, the AMIGOS project will identify present and future mobility challenges for 5 cities (living labs) and 10 urban areas (safety improvement areas). The digital tools include a Mobility Observation Box and an application for the collection of new mobility data, which will feed a big data platform for their analysis and digital twins to visualize mobility scenarios. They will allow urban stakeholders to identify mobility challenges and will serve as a basis for the co-development of adapted mobility solutions: towards reducing traffic, increasing public and active mobility modes, improving safety and co-habitation between different mobilities for the 5 cities, and towards increased safety for the 10 urban areas. Therefore, key stakeholders such as public authorities and vulnerable users will be included in the definition of technological and policy solutions mobility solutions which will be implemented in the cities. Their environmental, safety, economic and social impacts will be assessed, in addition to their medium- and long-term impact and their replicability, in view of their implementation in 5 twin cities.

Bio-based plastics are now seen as an eco-friendly substitute for traditional fossil-based plastics. Interestingly, aside from their environmentally friendly origins and in some cases, their biodegradability, bio-based plastics present a promising market potential for recycling, particularly through chemical depolymerisation. Nevertheless, before recycling, bio-based plastics must first be separated and isolated from other packaging materials. Achieving effective sorting of bio-based plastics presents a challenge in the market, as bio-based plastics require scale to be sorted and to form a circular economy. Yet, they also need circularity as a sustainability selling point to boost their sales. The PROSPER project brings together three bio-based plastic producers (including PLA and AAPE-blend producers), a major brand owner, an EPR scheme/PRO participant, a supplier of AI-sorting technology, a sorting testing center, four waste management companies, a municipality and a specialised consultant. It is supported by the scientific expertise of three research institutions and universities, as well as a policy-oriented non-profit organisation. The project offers a comprehensive approach by developing policy interventions, EPR fee scenarios and quantifying recycling rates and cost benefits associated with these scenarios. It also focuses on demonstrating technical advancements in sorting and recycling at industrial scale inside four real waste management companies. PROSPER will also evaluate the market potential for recycled bio-based plastic products through consumer studies, engagement with companies and PROs, while also assessing the Life Cycle, Social Life Cycle, material circularity indicators and economic business models. The institutionalisation of a system change by the different stakeholders in the bio-based plastics value chain will be crucial in achieving circularity, improving environmental performance and fostering positive impacts in the bio-based economy.