Specifically, the most significant scientific and/or technological achievements per WP are:
WP1 has generated a solid database of information that has been used in RP2 as basis for the exploitation activities in WP5 and also has provided guidelines for the technical WPs, in particular WP4. The information covered by WP1 are related to: Biomass feedstock and availability, cost for PHA production – baseline and specification and market requirements for products developed by USABLE packaging.
For WP2, the key points have been the assessment of the acidogenic fermentation potential of 9 food industry by-products (UNIROMA), finding reground Pasta (RP) as a good by-product to be fermented into volatile fatty acids. These are ideal substrates for PHA production with mixed microbial cultures (MMC) and were used as feedstock for MMC-PHA production at pilot plant (INNOVEN). The set up and optimization of different routes for PHA production were also developed.
In WP3, the most relevant technical/scientific achievements consisted in the realization of high-performance functional compounds by different means such as through blending, photocrosslinking and electrospinning. The developed materials have improved current properties of material benchmarks and so a downselection was carried out to incorporate them into WP4 pacakging prototypes.
In WP4, packaging prototypes were developed in collaboration with subcontractors by using commercial PHA and PHBV70 from the project. Particularly, it was possible to obtain reusable plates, packaging films, frozen packaging films, multilayer packaging film for bag in box, Nest and tube pharmaceutical packaging, and lastly, textiles as prototype for seed bags. In parallel to these activities, WP4 analysed the end-of-life of the materials and prototype realized in terms of biodegradation in different environments and organic recycle. Other activities performed in WP4 have been the LCA analysis and the collection of data about REACH compliance of materials and packaging product prototypes.
In WP5-the contribution has been to set up and manage a large stakeholder platform as well as to develop the product portfolio and the exploitation roadmap for the project. WP5 is the bridge through the technical achievements and the perspective for market exploitation at the end of the project and sets also some key milestones that are recommended as follow up after project end, in order to bridge the gap to full scale implementation.
Dissemination and communication activities under WP6 consisted in updating the Communication and Dissemination Plan (CDP) and the website, as well as dissemination of activities. There are currently 15 papers listed, with one more published and another due shortly. Three press releases were issued covering key milestones in the project between M18 and M42, including the manufacturing of frozen bags and a letter by project Coordinator Chema Lagaron to the EU Institutions; Three newsletters were published and in October 2021, a Vox Pop video gauging public perception of bioplastics was produced and disseminated via the UP website, YouTube channel and press release. Three stakeholders’ webinars in French, Italian and Portuguese were organised, recorded and posted on the UP website and YouTube channel as well. Two articles were published in political and trade media – with a reach of over 450K. The project was promoted across all major social media platforms and culminated with the hosting of an end-of-project event at the Ecomondo Green Technology Expo in Rimini, Italy.
