Descripción del proyecto
De residuos de vertederos a nuevos biomateriales
Cada año se producen en el mundo más de 2 000 millones de toneladas de residuos domésticos, es decir, 50 toneladas de residuos por segundo. Más del 70 % de estos residuos acaban en vertederos o se tiran sin control. El equipo del proyecto UBQ Materials, financiado con fondos europeos, presenta una solución pionera para que los residuos dejen de ser un pasivo y se conviertan en un activo material valioso. UBQ Materials convierte los residuos domésticos —restos orgánicos, comida y pañales sucios, junto con el plástico, el cartón y los envases— en una alternativa sostenible a los plásticos y otras materias primas convencionales. UBQ™ es un termoplástico biológico positivo para el clima que se integra perfectamente en los procesos de fabricación estándar. UBQ Materials permite a las industrias reducir la huella de carbono de sus productos finales, maximizar el contenido reciclado y preservar los recursos finitos sin comprometer la rentabilidad.
Objetivo
2bn tons of waste are produced globally per year. An average European leaves behind 480 kg of household waste every year . 99% of things that we buy are sent to trash within 6 months. 50 tons of household waste are produced every second. 95% of waste produced globally is estimated not to be recycled. 80% of waste is dumped into open landfills next to rivers, lakes or oceans. 100m people live on or near landfills all around the world. Moreover, the waste production is increasing—by 2030 the amount of household waste will almost double to 3bn tons annually. Landfills generate not only CO2 but methane, which is 100X more dangerous, dioxins & furans. Utilizing waste as a material asset will open doors to massive savings of natural resources.
We have developed a revolutionary solution that converts residual municipal solid waste, destined for landfills, into a novel patented UBQ Material. The heterogeneous mixed waste stream (including the organics fractions like food waste, garden trimmings, paper, cardboard, diapers, dirty plastics, as well as packaging materials) is converted into an entirely homogeneous material that can be used in existing plastic processing equipment.
Our solution enables industry to reuse waste materials over & over again. By converting the waste into this commercially viable & valuable material, we provide the missing link between waste disposal through to new product manufacturing, moving from a linear extraction and consumption system to a truly circular economy.
We estimate that the global plastic industry can implement UBQ Material blended together with virgin or recycled resins at 10% rate. One 10 ton/hour production plant will produce ~70,000 tons of UBQ Material per year. Once we have industrial-grade throughput of 20 ton/hour in 2020, we plan to roll out 1 plant per year, reaching a total capacity of at least 1.4m ton/year within 8 years. We are aiming at 320+ FTEs by 2024 with €160m in revenues from UBQ Material sales.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcompositesbiocomposites
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbioplastics
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Régimen de financiación
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinador
6407808 TEL AVIV
Israel
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.