For what concerns the production of sustainable feedstock, two routes have been investigated: sustainable sources of sugars and of vegetable oils. In the first case, the process to simultaneously produce 1st and 2nd generation sugars was successfully validated and demonstrated, and the obtained sugars used in fermentation trials towards producing high value chemicals. While in the second one, alternative sources of vegetable oils (i.e. used cooking oil) were successfully used as raw materials for the production of innovative dicarboxylic acids.
Both sustainable sources of sugars and vegetable oils were then used at pilot and pre-industrial scale as feedstock to produce innovative bio-based building blocks, which were then converted into bio-based polyamides (Nylon 6 and specialty Nylons), and in bio-based and biodegradable polyesters.
The first-ever batches of 100% bio-based Nylon 6 were successfully produced at pre-industrial scale, and subsequently spun and reprocessed into BCF and NTF yarns (both solution-dyed and raw white). BCF yarns were used to manufacture prototypes of residential carpets at industrial scale, which were extensively characterized and compared with benchmark products. Similarly, NTF yarns were firstly warp knitted to produce fabrics, and then successfully used to produce prototypes of large consumer products, namely swimsuits and bike pants. Both prototypes of carpets and garments were manufactured according to the eco-design measures identified within the project. Bio-based Nylon 6 was also validated in additional applications, e.g. engineering plastics and films.
Bio-based specialty Nylons were successfully produced at both pilot and industrial scale, and then used to produce a wide range of prototypes, i.e. mono-material films, yarns, membranes, additives and hotmelts for the carpet industry.
Bio-based and biodegradable polyesters were used to produce bio-materials, which were successfully converted into compostable films for packaging applications.
The developed eco-design measures were also successfully validated for what concerns the recyclability of carpets, whose new design enabled to recover higher purity fractions suitable for further valorization/recycling, and the organic recyclability of films from bio-materials including bio-based polyesters, whose bio-degradability and compostability was proven both for home and industrial composting.
For what concern sustainability aspects, solutions to energetically valorize waste streams and to improve the energy efficiency of future plant to produce the targeted bio-based materials were identified and studied in detail. Besides, the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the demonstrated solutions was assessed, suggesting positive benefits in terms of reduction of carbon footprint (compared to the benchmark products from fossil resources) and of social opportunities for what concerns technology development, commitment to sustainability issues and contribution to economic development. To complement these analyses, social acceptance was investigated and suggested some areas should be addressed in order to improve acceptance of these bio-based solutions; while the review of the main standards and certifications related to EFFECTIVE’s materials and technologies highlighted some gaps/opportunities in certification schemes for bio-synthetic textile based on a solid, traceable and reliable chain of custody.
Finally, despite some bottlenecks linked to the pandemic situation, the project was extensively communicated and disseminated via different channels: throughout the entire project lifetime, 2 scientific papers were published, the project was presented at 80+ events/conferences,12 training sessions were delivered and 13 newsletters were issued; also, a project video was produced, the project’s website was visited by more 2500+ visitors, and 200+ posts and tweets were posted on social media channels. All in all, these activities allowed to set up a group of external stakeholders involving 100+ members from 27 countries.
