A business model and the legal structure of the FF2S OITB was set up. A non-profit association will secure the societal impact of the OITB and will establish standing technical committees to address expressed needs of the industry for accelerating the time to market for new products which use nano-functionalised plastic and paper surfaces and membranes. The technical committees will cover activities such as (a) standardisation of characterisation procedures or system designs, (b) maintaining a knowledge base and identifying future technology trends and roadmaps, (c) joint dissemination activities, (d) tune the OITB members’ services and technologies to market needs, (e) maximize efficiency in collaborative research and innovation projects, and (f) interact with the whole European Open Innovation Ecosystem. The Association will establish strategic partnerships with regionally active technology consultants and sales partners to establish a European network of access points for industry that act as single point of contact (called “Single Entry Point - SEP”). The key tasks of the SEP are consulting the customers in technology selection and planning, managing and realizing innovation projects based on the services of the OITB members. In February 2023 the ESNA - European Sustainable Nanotechnologies Association as the FF2S OITB association was created as non-profit association. By that the association became operational by Month 36 of the project. Based on a call for tender KETMarket has been selected and contracted by ESNA to act as the SEP from summer 2023.
In parallel FF2S upgraded the technical facilities of the consortium members for processing of novel bio-based, bio-degradable and/or recyclable plastic and paper based materials that shall replace the state-of-the-art mineral oil based plastic products in e.g. packaging applications. The upgrades of the facility include winding systems to enable the use of materials with low young’s modulus and dimensional stability; modified process stations to reduce process temperatures or to increase productivity and efficiency; and inline quality control solutions to improve yield and quality in pilot processing. Furthermore, FF2S, in particular the consortium partners IPC and Fraunhofer IVV, enhanced their capabilities for recycling of plastics, and for verifying the recyclability and biodegradability. In december 2022 IPC acquired the TÜV Austria certification for evaluating all relevant biodegradability levels (from industrially compostable to marine degradable).
Finally, dedicated characterisation workflows to evaluate physiochemical properties, application performance and safety approval (e.g. for food contact) were prepared. A catalogue of FF2S characterisation services has been published through the project’s website.
All facilities and technological solutions developed within FF2S are verified in six industrial use case scenarios that cover food and non-food packaging, biodegradable security labels, switchable water filter membranes and innovative multifunctional electronic surfaces in automotive applications. Partners successfully demonstrated roll-to-roll processing of bio-degradable micro-structured surfaces for security labels; roll-to-roll manufacturing of conductive PET based membranes for filter applications; demonstrators of fully recyclable drink pouches and operational organic solar cells that were deposited on recycled PET films.
At Month 18, FF2S launched an open call to invite SME for pre-commercial pilot case projects. The SME receive subsidized access to the innovation services of the FF2S OITB to support and accelerate development of novel products and technologies for smart and sustainable plastics and paper solutions. 23 applications have been received. 17 of them have been selected as pilot cases and performed and finished well.
The results from industrial demo cases were actively promoted through social media, while each stakeholder involved has carefully considered the exploitation possibilities generated as a result of the project’s achievements.
