The MANDALA project presents a sustainable solution for the plastic packaging sector which tackles 3 pillars: eco-design, dual functionality & end-of-life; with the aim to find a final solution based on multilayer monomaterial packaging with functionalities compared to multimaterial ones and fully produced with biobased & recycled polymers in order to reach a full circularity of resources. MANDALA will develop new adhesives with dual functionality (easy to split and barrier properties) by incorporating thermoreversible covalent bonds and radiation absorbing nanoparticles, which at the same time will generate a tortuous path enhancing barrier properties that are critical for end-user. In addition, new polymer blends with increased biobased and recycled content of film layers will be developed. Their combination in a multilayer product will set the basis for new food (meat, ready-to-eat) and pharma (pill blister) packaging products. MANDALA project will demonstrate that the de-lamination technology can be up-scaled and applied to reach intermediate solutions for multilayer/multimaterial packaging (being biobased or not) progressively helping to become the end-of-life more sustainable by recovering all fractions and providing clean streams for their biodegradation or recycling. MANDALA project will directly contribute to achieve KPI 1, KPI 2, KPI 6, KPI 8 and demonstrate the solution decreasing the end-of-life costs and CO2 emissions in more than a 30%. It will develop innovations in 3 KETS. MANDALA consortium involves 12 partners (4RTD, 5SME, 1SME cluster and 2 Large Companies) accounting 2 BIC full members and 2 associated. The 42-months project will comprise a total estimated budget of 4,573,892,5€ and requested funding of 3,650,921,75€. There is a strong engagement of the industry with 922,970,75€ in-kinds (20,2%) and 4,869,731€ in additional activities during the project (machine acquisition) and 3,820,000€ envisaged to upgrade TRL after the end of the project.

ELLIPSE project will address the valorisation of two heterogeneous waste streams generated in significant amounts in Europe, slaughterhouse waste (bellygrass) and paper and pulp sludge, to produce cost-efficient PHAs for agricultural and packaging sectors, by the co-processing with other organic waste streams such as glycerol from the biodiesel industry and sludge from the dairy industry. The integration of these waste streams as biorefinery feedstocks will allow reducing the volumes of waste destined to landfill or anaerobic digestion, opening new avenues for platform chemicals and bioplastics production while creating additional revenue for the related industries generating the waste, with added advantages of water recycling, decreased soil degradation, groundwater pollution and methane emissions. The selected ELLIPSE feedstocks are locally available and renewable leading to close to 100% renewably sourced personal care packaging and agricultural products. ELLIPSE project will be able to cope with at least 100 tonnes of slaughterhouse waste and 20 tons of wastewater sludge derived from pulp and paper industry. The ELLIPSE technology will impact in the European bioeconomy by valorising 20,000 tons of rumen content waste and 50,000 tons of paper sludge per year. ELLIPSE has a multi-actor approach including all the relevant actors in the bio-based system from the waste stream production and management (GG and HEPA) to technology developers (AIMPLAS, UNIVR, CARTIF, BEST) and industrial actors, both SMEs (BIOT, BIOMI, ZER0-E, HP) and bigger companies (BBEPP, NVMT), plus the expertise of ENCO for the market development perspective. ZER0-E will contribute with the end-user and consumer’s perspective so that all inputs from the relevant actors are taken into account.

The EFFECTIVE project intends to demonstrate first of its kind and economically viable routes for the production of biobased polyamides and polyesters from sustainable renewable feedstock for the obtaining of fibres and films with enhanced properties, market competitiveness and increased sustainability. Such materials will be applied into eco-designed large consumer products targeting different markets, i.e. construction, automotive, primary and secondary packaging and textile and with the potential of being applied into many other markets (fishing, engineering plastics, agriculture, hygiene and personal care). Following a circular economy approach, the sustainability of the value chains will be further enhanced by the demonstration of an improved end-of-life of the developed eco-designed biobased solutions through the application of monomer regeneration, recycling (for polyamides based fibres and films) and composting/anaerobic digestion (for polyesters based films) processes. The idea that “the end is a new beginning” will indeed drive the products design and realization. The project covers the whole value chain: feedstock production, conversion into innovative biobased building blocks through biotechnological and chemical processes, formulation of innovative biobased polymers (polyesters and polyamides), final products development, end-of-life products management and processing. The project intends to represent a key milestone towards the future industrialization of biobased fibres and films production in Europe foreseeing the mobilization of relevant investments by involved industry partners and fostering the adoption of multi-stakeholders collaboration models to demonstrate effective ways to develop new cases of biobased economy interconnected with circular regenerative economy joining environmental sustainability and economic profitability.

Τhe goal of the FURIOUS project is to develop novel versatile polymers based on 2,5-FDCA to enrich the portfolio of bio-based innovative mono-material solutions proposed to replace traditional plastics. The materials will be properly designed from the chemical point of view to satisfy a set of target properties required for three stringent applications, where other bioplastics do not address all the requirements or traditional plastics are still widely employed: biomedical and electronic packaging (where resistance to sterilization and high barrier properties are necessary), automotive sector (where resistance to UV weathering and intrinsic antibacterial properties are the key feature) and underwater devices (where photoreactivity and biodegradability in seawater are requested). To target such a goal, all the well-established synthetic strategies will be used, with particular attention to the exploitation of green processes, to low lifecycle environmental impact polymers and to the minimization of their production cost. FURIOUS material versatility will be also assessed with respect to their processability, which is a further mandatory feature to be checked for real entry on the market. Both well-established technologies, such as injection molding and extrusion, and more innovative ones, such as electrospinning, 3D printing and stereolithography will be validated. Last, but not least, intrinsic recyclability will be imparted to the new furan-based polymers for both greener and mechanical recycling and for novel enzymatic recycling strategies. In the case of packaging, compostability will also be evaluated, while underwater sensor biodegradability in marine environment will be checked being one of the key requested polymer feature. Innovative results of FURIOUS will contribute to the development of Sustainability-by-design database, used to assess and predict the performance of novel materials and to derive a set of guidelines for the end-use applications.

POLYMEER is dedicated to play a part in establishing a new bio-based value chain for bioplastic products from sustainable sourcing through the effective exploitation of the potential of brewers’ spent grain (BSG) reuse. This entail the efficient conversion of wet BSG into versatile bioplastics tailored for three for three crucial application. These applications are characterized by technical demands that existing bioplastics struggle to meet or where conventional fossil-based plastics still dominate: 1) mulch films suitable for agricultural use, 2) textile for the automotive industry, and 3) tertiary packaging films for industrial purposes, that can be recycled and/or biodegraded in specific environments. The project is a holistic endeavour aimed to achieve this goal. It involves the entire production process, starting with BSG fractionation into key biopolymers, primarily cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. These valuable components are then transformed into specific polymers and copolymers exploiting green, waste-minimised processes. Finally, through blending, formulation and processing we will create cutting-edge bioplastics suitable for the designated fields. The most promising results from our lab-scale production will undergo upscaling to demonstrate economic and technical feasibility, paving the way for market launch within 3-5 years post-project completion. Furthermore, we thoroughly evaluate these materials' properties, considering their environmental, social, and economic impacts during large-scale production. We ensure product safety and explore biodegradability potential and recycling processes throughout the production process. In essence, POLYMEER is not just about bioplastics; it's about redefining sustainability in the bioplastics industry with tailor-made solutions derived from BSG.