Project description
Making sugar from municipal waste
Sugar is one of the most essential raw materials, cultivated mainly for food and feed, but also for the manufacture of industrial chemicals and biofuels. Nearly 80 % of sugar production globally is from sugarcane, with the rest coming from sugar beet. This means the supply chain relies on crops with a high environmental and social impact, and is subject to supply and cost fluctuations. Second-generation sugars can help reverse this trend. Despite some limitations (high dilution and low purity), these second-generation sugars are available from sources like municipal solid waste (MSW). The VAMOS project will showcase the feasibility of producing and valorising these second-generation sugars. It will create a number of new value chains by using the sugar for the production of a range of bio-based products for non-food applications.
Objective
This project aims to showcase, at demonstration scale, the feasibility of producing and valorising second generation sugars derived from municipal solid waste (MSW). This MSW is composed of either mixed domestic residual waste or waste rejected from sorting and recycling processes (MRF rejects) and contains significant quantities of paper/card (lignocellulosic) based materials. The sugar will be utilised in the production of three bio-based products; 1) a thermoset bioresin used in the binding of mineral-wool insulation; 2) purified lactic acid (LA) for the commodities market; and 3) poly-lactic acid (PLA) and PLA/Fibre composite materials to be used in non-food contact applications within the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), packaging, furnishings and construction sectors.
The vision is to create a paradigm shift in industrial biotechnology products by establishing a novel approach based on the efficient use of low value mixed waste and the conversion of this material into value-added products. This project, titled ‘Value Added Materials from Organic waste Sugars’ (VAMOS) aims to produce competitive, sustainable, affordable and high-performance bio-based materials from low-value residual waste sugars.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
HP19 8HT Aylesbury
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.