Description du projet
Introduire les polymères biosourcés dans les boucles de l’économie circulaire
Envie de vous baigner dans… du plastique? Les scientifiques nous préviennent, nos océans contiendront davantage de plastique que de poissons (en termes de masse) d’ici 2050, lorsque la production d’emballages plastiques dépassera les 250 millions de tonnes métriques. Actuellement, environ 26 milliards de tonnes de déchets plastiques sont produits chaque année, rien qu’en Europe. Pire encore, plus de 70 % de ces déchets ne sont pas recyclés. La plupart des plastiques mis au rebut ne peuvent pas être recyclés et ne sont pas dégradables. Le projet NATURE, financé par l’UE, travaille sur un programme de formation à la recherche innovant, qui fera office de pilier de l’économie circulaire. Il permettra par exemple de renforcer les connaissances sur la synthèse de nouveaux matériaux polymériques biosourcés, où les polymères sont conçus en fonction de leurs performances et de leur recyclabilité.
Objectif
Plastics are the material of choice in packaging applications because of their low cost, high performance and ready processability. Such is their success that it is expected that by 2050 the production of plastic packaging will exceed 250 million metric tons. Considering most plastics that are employed in the packaging industry are used for less than a week, the lack of environmental degradability has led to a tremendous growth of disposed plastics. This growth, together with the fact that the vast majority of synthetic plastics are designed for performance and durability and not for degradability and recyclability, has brought tons of plastic accumulation in the oceans and landfills - ~56 million tons per year. The problem has been highlighted by the acclaimed prediction that by 2050, the ocean is expected to contain more plastics than fish (by weight). Although it was envisioned that biodegradable polymers based on ester linkages such as poly(lactide) (PLA) or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) could be part of the solution because they are mainly derived from biorenewable sources (e.g. starch and cellulose) and can be enzymatically or hydrolytically degraded leading to an environmentally closed circular ecosystem, the low permeability in the case of PLLA and the poor mechanical properties in the case of PHB has limited their potential. NATURE-EID proposes an innovative research training program at the forefront of circular economy of biobased polyesters. In particular, the project will develop fundamental knowledge in the synthesis of new biobased polymeric materials where the polymers are not only design based on their performance but also on their recyclability.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-ITN-EID - European Industrial DoctoratesCoordinateur
20018 San Sebastian
Espagne
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.