The BioSupPack project addresses two main issues:
- The use of bioplastics: The increasing use of bioplastics in the packaging sector is driven by the continuous demand for sustainable products by consumers and brands alike, due to a growing awareness of the environmental impact and the need to reduce the fossil resources dependency. The bioplastics industry´s continuous innovations make the number of manufacturers, converters and end-users increasing steadily. New and innovative biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) show a very high relative growth rate. With a global production capacity of 25.300 Ton in 2019, it is expected an increase up to 160.000 Ton in the next 5 years (from 1.2% to 6.6% of bioplastics´ global production capacity). In this context, new ways of producing PHAs are going to take a great importance in the short future, being one of the challenges open to source it from 2nd-3rd generation raw materials instead of raw sugars.
- The use of by-products for PHA production, have yet to reach an industrial level of market potential related to a value hierarchy. BIOSUPPACK is going to focus on brew spent grains (BSG), the most abundant by-product from the brewery industry , available at low or no cost and produced in large quantities.
The project is tackling both issues by delivering versatile and competitive bio-based packaging solutions based on PHA suitable for food, cosmetics, homecare and beverage sectors utilizations and to establish a new value chain including the development of logistics and management of both brewery and packaging waste.
The specific objectives of the project are to:
- Increase the use of renewable resources (beer spent grains) for PHA formulations up to >85%.
- Crafting highly-performing PHA-based rigid packaging with properties similar to those of conventional petrochemical plastics present in the market.
- Upscale the production of new PHA-based products to a demonstration level.
- Integrate the plasma technology throughout the value chain for the pre-treatment of brew spent grains, packaging treatment and finally, for the pre-treatment of packaging waste.
- Develop a system capable to identify and sort BioSupPack waste (>90% of BioSupPack materials identified).
- Ensure BioSupPack recyclability. Mechanical and enzymatic recycling processes to reintroduce materials in the production step and/or recover carbon sources for the fermentation process (>30% carbon source supply).
- Demonstrate end-user validation and acceptance of the new BioSupPack products.
- Create a new value chain by managing both brewery and packaging waste flows.
- Ensure the sustainability and European standards compliance assessment.
- Maximize the impact after the end of the project by exploiting results.
