Project description
Scaling tomato bio-based resin for food packaging
Metal cans to preserve food have proved to be a global health threat due to potential release of chemicals into the food. Processed preserved foods could become safer through the use of biological materials in their packaging. The EU-funded TOMAPAINT project is introducing a high-performance bioresin for coating metal food cans obtained from industrial tomato processing by-products as an ecological alternative to synthetic petrochemical-based resins, delivering significant environmental and health benefits. By the completion of the project, production will have been scaled to an industrial level, the innovative product will have become available for launch for different high-value applications and more licensing agreements for plants will have been achieved internationally.
Objective
TomaPaint is an award winning green startup founded in March 2019 that has developed a high performance bioresin obtained from industrial tomato processing by-products.
After positive experiments in the laboratory, and 10 years of research performed in the framework of 3 EU projects- FP7BIOCOPAC, LIFe BiocopacPlus and BBI-H2020 Agrimax- we have developed and validated a patented green process for the extraction of cutin from tomato peel, with good purity characteristics and high yield.
Our market entry application is the use of the recovered cutin bioresin as the main component of a natural, safe and sustainable biolacquer for the coating of metal food cans as an ecological alternative to synthetic petrochemical-based lacquers, delivering significant environmental and health benefits.
Our proprietary pilot plant is currently operational with a capacity of 12 tons/annum, batch production. This facility has been fundamental for R&D purposes for establishing the extraction process, modifying and optimising it. To meet market demand, we now need to scale to an industrial plant and to steadily increase annual capacity to produce 50 t/yr by 2021, 100t/yr by 2022, 200t/yr by 2023, eventually reaching full capacity, estimated at 500 t/yr.
Thanks to the milestones we will reach through the EIC Accelerator, our target is to grow the business to 19.25M annual revenue through the sale of the bioresin for different high value applications as well as through licensing agreements for plants internationally that will secure long-term growth impacts.
Tomapaint is a high-impact market creating innovation that will contribute to the EUs Green Deal: The sustained Circular Value chains that will flourish around each plant will have a multi-million-euro impact on the local economies, with new job creation, reduced carbon emissions and wastes and increased resource efficiency and a model that is based on a self-regenerating economic system.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
43121 Parma
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.