Project description
From kitchen waste and seaweed to bioplastics
Current packaging relies heavily on non-renewable, fossil-based plastics that do not biodegrade, leading to significant environmental waste. The EIC-funded SUSHI-PACK project aims to develop safe, sustainable alternatives from seaweed and recycled used cooking oils. By applying advanced biotechnology and metabolic engineering, the project will transform these raw materials into innovative bioplastics and multi-layer packaging solutions. Beyond production, SUSHI-PACK will focus on the entire lifecycle, ensuring products are compostable or can be recycled via enzymatic processes. This approach seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 % and generate an economic turnover of 58 million euro, demonstrating that sustainable materials can be both ecologically responsible and economically viable.
Objective
The packaging market highly relies on fossil-based plastics, which derive from non-renewable resources and producing products that are not biodegradable in different environments, increasing waste production.
Renewable bio-based raw materials can be the alternative to produce safe and sustainable packaging materials.
SUSHI-PACK will use sustainably sourced seaweed polysaccharides, especially alginate and agar, together with the secondary raw material Regenerated Used Cooking Oils.
SUSHI-PACK will use advanced technologies in Metabolic Engineering and Biocatalysis to improve the production of hydroxy fatty acids from RUCO and for the production of a sustainable Bioprocess which can be further scaled-up at industrial scale.
The SUSHI-PACK process is based on the use of biocatalytically produced hydroxy fatty acids and on their chemical transformation into polyesters, poly(ester urethane)s and modified polysaccharides, which will be processed in blends and multi-layer material to be tested in the packaging sector. Chemicals, polymers, additives and technologies will be chosen in terms of different Regulations and will be assayed with the SSbD framework to produce a process which can be fully sustainable both at the environmental, socio and economic scale.
The latter, together with LCA, will aid to identify bottlenecks and to identify other chemicals or processes to improve their sustainability.
The End of Life of the products will be assessed for different destinies: Compostability, Biodegradation and Enzymatic hydrolysis.
Enzymatically hydrolyzed polymers and materials will also be tested for their revalorization as feedstock for the production of industrially valuable polymers, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates.
SUSHI-PACK will offer sustainably and economically alternatives to fossil-based plastics, with a reduction of at least 15% of GHG emission and an economic turnover of 58 M€.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08500 VIC BARCELONA
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.