Description du projet
S’attaquer à la pollution plastique en s’inspirant des vers?
Nous faisons face à une véritable boulimie de plastique – un risque majeur pour l’environnement et la santé. Si les modes de consommation actuels et les pratiques de gestion des déchets se poursuivent, il y aura environ 12 milliards de tonnes de déchets plastiques dans les décharges et dans la nature d’ici 2050. La production et la dégradation des plastiques doivent être durables. Les efforts pour identifier les micro-organismes qui décomposent le plastique se sont intensifiés, mais leur taux de biodégradation reste très faible. Le projet SOLFORPLAS, financé par l’UE, élaborera une stratégie pour mettre en œuvre une biodégradation des plastiques comme solution à la pollution plastique. Le succès du projet passera par l’intégration d’un traitement physique, chimique et biologique imitant le processus de biodégradation observé chez les vers.
Objectif
Since the 1970s, the mismanagement of plastic waste has been increasingly threatening our health and environment. Rather than been reduced, plastic production is growing exponentially. By 2050, the estimation of plastic waste in landfills or in the natural environment verges on 12 billion metric tons, if current production and waste management trends continue. Societies are raising awareness about this concern, although our dependency makes nearly impossible to imagine a world without plastics. This urges for a solution making plastic production and degradation sustainable. To date, important efforts have been made to isolate and identify unique microorganisms capable of utilizing plastics as a carbon source. Although there is empirical evidence of it, the rates of biodegradation are still very low. In SOLFORPLAS project, we will apply cutting-edge biology tools, including fermentation and analytical processes, together with state-of-the-art methods in industrial microbiology research, to investigate plastic biodegradation using a highly-optimized strategy that combines an extruder and a bioreactor. The innovative combined strategy will integrate physical, chemical and biological treatment, which will mimic the whole biodegradation process taking place in worms. Multiple polymer characteristics will be monitored to determine/quantify its biodegradation. Overall, SOLFORPLAS project aim at stablishing a combined strategy to carry out plastic biodegradation as a solution for plastic pollution, one of the biggest environmental that humans are facing in this century.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactors
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processes
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybioprocessing technologiesfermentation
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
31077 TOULOUSE CEDEX 4
France