Strategies of circular Economy and Advanced bio-based solutions to keep our Lands and seas alIVE from plastics contamination

Project Information

SEALIVE

Grant agreement ID: 862910

DOI

10.3030/862910

Project closed

EC signature date 17 September 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 31 March 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 10 281 120,49

EU contribution

€ 8 527 315,22

Coordinated by

INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DEL EMBALAJE, TRANSPORTE Y LOGISTICA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SEALIVE (Strategies of circular Economy and Advanced bio-based solutions to keep our Lands and seas alIVE from plastics contamination)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The plastic, sprecifically the packaging sector, is in constant transformation due both to changes in the population's consumption, with a growing trend towards sustainable solutions, and to the new legislation that is being established to regulate their use. This sector has shown a great capacity for adaptation, generating numerous R&D&I activities in order to meet these new market demands and, in this sense, two major trends can be distinguished. On the one hand, the increased use of recycled materials, as well as the prevalence of the most easily recyclable materials over those that are not, and, on the other hand, the rapid growth in the introduction of bio-based and/or compostable solutions. Following this line of work, SEALIVE has been focused on the obtaintion of new biodegradable and compostable materials,and in the development of new technologies to convert biomass sources (microalgae and organic waste, and other vegetable raw materials that do not compete with the food chain) into new bioplastic solutions, based on PLA, PHA, starch and novel blends with advanced properties. These new bioplastic solutions have been tested in an industrial scale environment, producing 8 demonstrators for different final applications carefully selected for their high pollution reduction potential in soil and aquatic environments in different territories: from domestically and industrially compostable food packaging, reusable and mechanically and organically recyclable cutlery, soil biodegradable mulch films, compostable flexible films for frozen applications, to various items for marine applications such as reusable, recyclable and traceable (as well as industrially compostable) fishing crates, reusable and industrially compostable oyster mesh bags and reusable, compostable and biodegradable fishing nets in marine environments.

The key to the advanced properties achieved has been the use of tailor-made additives, as well as new bio-based fluorescent markers to enable the identification of these materials in waste management systems. It is also worth mentioning the important work carried out in the development of innovative business models to promote good practices in the development of bio-based products and their implementation in the market, covering and evaluating all the impacts from the origin to the end of life of the materials, the processing and conversion technologies, as well as the end-of-life management system, thus guaranteeing efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly products on an industrial scale.

SEALIVE project has not left aside such fundamental aspects for these new materials as standardization and European policies. Consortium has worked on improving standardization by evaluating the current norms and standards that apply to this type of plastic materials, identifying the main gaps to develop optimized standards for this type of materials, and proposing new texts to the different standardization committees. In addition, five reports have been prepared containing recommendations to European and international policies, interacting closely with DG ENV with the aim of contributing to the development of the Communication on Bio-based, Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed during t could be summarize inhe project could be summarized into the following points:
i) Development and scale up of new bio-based plastic solutions (based on PLA, PHA, starch and novel blends) with advanced properties and with novel raw materials resulting from the conversion of photosynthetic aquatic biomass like the starch, organic waste like PHAs, and new chemistry routes like PLA blends with organic additives.
ii) Recycling-by-design techniques and cutting-edge compounding and extrusion technologies in order to reach market products requirements (from the technical to economical point of view).
iii) Effective end-of-life solutions (NIR sorting, polymer markers, valorisation of compostability and marine degradation) targeting circular economy.

New bioplastics solutions have been upscaled and demonstrated by 8 end-applications (use cases) with high potential for pollution reduction on soils and water media and in different territories. Finally, all these innovations and strategies defined within SEALIVE project have been supported with policy, pre-normative, and training actions in several European countries.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The reached results according to identified impacts are:
- Prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution by 2025: SEALIVE project has identified potential innovative sustainable business models for the project’s demonstrators, as well as, it has been examined the different value chains available to create circular business models. Through the validation of demonstrators SEALIVE has ensure pollution reduction of soils (ex: biodegradable mulching films), a reduction of packaging waste by implementing the organic recycling and also the reuse with reusable fishing crates.
- Deliver solutions with work starting at TRL 5 and achieving TRL 6-8, where technological innovation is involved. In the case of the production of biopolymers from microalgae and organic wastes has been reach at laboratory and pilot scale, and new biodegradable solutions based on innovative blending technicques have successfully achieves TRL between 6-8.
- Sealive has evaluated the sorting of developed materials using NIR facilities, using as indicated PLA thermoformed blends. This process has been performed at TRL 7-8, using an industrial scale sorting facility which has been fed with samples. Alternative approaches such as RFID and fluorescent tracers have been evaluated as well.
- Deliver results in a form that allows for efficient feedback into policymaking in research, innovation and technology, in particular in the EU Plastic Strategy: SEALIVES consortiumhass actively worked to map all relevant EU and related policies and measures that directly address bioplastics. Some members have cooperated by reviewing of existing policies, new policies, policy implementation, etc., and have participated at different policy events.
- SEALIVE Training Kit, which consists of modular, interactive training material aiming to build capacity regarding key issues addressed by SEALIVE, including plastic pollution, climate change, bioplastics, and the circular economy. Overall, 325 people across 7 countries were trained using the SEALIVE Training Kit. Additionally, the project implemented Knowledge Transfer Events in 5 countries not participating in the project consortium, namely Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria and Malta, reaching over 500 and actively engaging 304 stakeholders representing potential end-users of the project’s products. During the Knowledge Transfer Events, information was shared about the project and its products, complemented by an interactive product exhibition, while a condensed version of the SEALIVE Training was implemented. Finally, a Brokerage Event was held in Valencia, Spain on March 7th, 2024, engaging 64 stakeholders from 15 different countries. During the Brokerage Event, participants had the opportunity to hear from the project partners and invited experts about bioplastics, the development of novel materials and products, innovative waste management and End-of-Life options, and see the products developed by SEALIVE.

Demosntrator developed: reusable, recyclable and compostable fishing crate

Demosntrator developed: Compostable and marine biodegradable oyshter mesh bag

Demosntrator developed: compstable and marine biodegradable fishing nets

Demanstrator developed: Reusable, recyclable and industrial compostable cutlery