BRINGING THE PLASTIC WASTE TRANSFORMATION BY THE INSECTS AT SCALE

Descripción del proyecto

De residuos plásticos a recursos valiosos

La industria del plástico se enfrenta a una crisis medioambiental debido a su modelo de negocio lineal convencional, el cual genera una cantidad alarmante de residuos. El reto radica en reciclar eficazmente flujos de residuos complejos compuestos por diversos polímeros, copolímeros y plásticos no fundibles, lo cual da lugar a la eliminación en vertederos o a la incineración. Dado que estas soluciones son insostenibles desde el punto de vista medioambiental, las nuevas normativas y directivas de la Unión Europea tratan de restringir tales prácticas. En este contexto, el equipo del proyecto WInScale, financiado con fondos europeos, introduce un planteamiento innovador. Aprovechando las extraordinarias capacidades de la polilla de la cera, ha desarrollado un proceso de cultivo vertical escalable que transforma materiales poliméricos en valiosas proteínas, lípidos y biofertilizantes. Dicha iniciativa pretende establecer una instalación respetuosa con el medio ambiente y comercialmente próspera.

Objetivo

The traditional linear plastic industry business model results in an ever-growing amount of accumulated waste which contributes significantly to the negative environmental impact of the global plastic industry. One of the biggest issues concerning the recycling of used polymeric materials, packaging, textile, furniture, is the handling of complex waste streams consisting of mixtures, co-polymers, and other recalcitrant materials, such as thermosets (non-melting plastics, foams), that can be only burned or disposed of on the landfills. Yet, neither of these solutions is acceptable from the environmental point of view, therefore the new regulations and EU directives aim to limit these methods.
We have developed a novel approach towards handling of complex plastic waste streams, where there is no available recycling alternative, thanks to under patent technologies. The approach is based on one specific insect, Galleria mellonella, the greater wax moth, and we have developed a scalable vertical farming process that enables the insects to digest and transform polymeric materials into proteins, lipids and biofertilizers. The long-term goal of this developed process is an environmentally-sound and commercially-successful transformation facility.
WINSCALE focuses on the scaling up of the transformation process. Namely, it focuses on the biochemical and technological development of the solution applied to two specifically difficult waste streams: sludge coming from the waste treating companies and polyurethane foam coming from matrass recycling facilities.
WINSCALE enables the overall improvement of the investor readiness of the developed solution, contributes to the creation of new, cross-sectoral value chains of waste transformation to added value products, thus promoting European competitiveness in the knowledge-based modern economy and women’s leadership in the deep tech industry.