Project description
A non-toxic adhesive alternative for engineered wood
Much like solid wood, engineered wood can be used in a variety of settings, including our homes. Our furniture as well as wall and floor panels could be made of this material, which is cheap, strong and easy to manufacture. Despite its advantages, engineered wood has been found to emit potentially harmful amounts of formaldehyde gas through the chemical decomposition of the adhesives. Formaldehyde has recently been labelled by the Food and Drug Administration as a toxic carcinogen. As a result, consumer demand and government regulations have shifted towards non-toxic alternatives. The EU-funded Materialize.X project will develop a biologically based adhesive that works within an industrial environment and is compliant with current regulations. The project will also deliver support software to ease the integration of the new adhesive into the production line.
Objective
There is currently no scalable, sustainable and non-toxic adhesive for the engineered wood industry. Manufacturers are having trouble to cope with more restrictive regulations (EU REACH, EPA) on formaldehyde-based adhesives for engineered wood products. Some manufacturers are experiencing around 15% productivity loss due to recent regulation tightening. Current adhesives are toxic to humans and have been connected to health problems (i.e. cancer), and new bio-based adhesives such as soy or lignin are not available in large quantities, are too slow to react in the press and too expensive
At Materialize.X we have developed a biologically based adhesive that works within an industrial environment and is produced from an alternative feedstock, compliant with current regulations. On top of that, we offer a support software for optimization of production.
Our software and hardware are tightly interconnected: by modelling the manufacturing process, we can integrate our adhesive into the production line much faster and cheaper than with current trial and error methods.
Our company was founded in December 2016, and our team of 5 members has been able to successfully produce industrial-grade wood engineered pressed wood boards. To fund our innovation development and go to market we have already raised 350.000€ from business angels and are now closing a 450.000€ investment round.
The adhesives market is valued at €50 billion/year and the engineered wood market at €250 billion euro/year (in 7 EU countries it adds to €20 billion).
Our business model is based on dual revenue streams: SaaS fees for the software and a license fee for the use of our proprietary adhesive (UK patented, PCT to be submitted in May 2018).
We expect Materialize.X to become the main bio-based adhesive in the EU and globally, pushing for formaldehyde phase-out and putting the European wood engineering industry at the global leader in eco-innovation.
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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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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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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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) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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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.
SW9 7HW LONDON
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.