CORDIS

EU research results

CORDIS

NOVEL, SUSTAINABLE MARINE BIO-SURFACTANT / BIO-EMULSIFIERS FOR COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION

Fact Sheet

Reporting

Results

Objective

Surfactants and emulsifiers constitute an important class of chemical agents that are widely used in almost every sector of modern industry. The huge market demand is currently met almost exclusively by synthetic, mainly petroleum-based, chemical products, which are usually non-biodegradable and mostly toxic or GM plant based products (used in foods), which are undesirable by some end-users. Their biologically produced counterparts (i.e. bio-surfactants and bio-emulsifiers) offer more green sustainable alternatives. This has led to a number of manufactures, looking for ways to increase competitiveness through searching for underexploited sources such as the marine environment. Our objectives are to develop (1) innovative approaches in discovering, characterizing and producing novel marine-derived bio-surfactants from a large bacterial collection (greater than 500 strains) housed at Heriot Watt University, originally isolated from various coastal and open ocean waters around the world, (2) novel, economic, and eco-friendly end-products with commercial applications in order to replace synthetic counterparts, and (3) to demonstrate the functionality of new product development for commercial exploitation. Our collection consists of novel bacterial species, originally isolated for their ability to degrade oils, with proven promise in this respect. For this reason, our consortium (consisting of academic institutions, industrial companies and end-users) offering a wide range of expertise, will address the technical bottlenecks for meeting our objectives, namely those of marine resource identification, sustainable supply, discovery pipeline and efficient production in biological systems. The relevance of our proposal to the work programme is underlined by its expected impact in increasing efficiency of discovery pipelines, the development of more economic and eco-friendly end-products and finally in contributing to the implementation of the objectives of the EU Blue Growth.

Programme(s)

H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Topic(s)

BG-03-2014 - Novel marine derived biomolecules and industrial biomaterials

Call for proposal

H2020-BG-2014-2

See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

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Coordinator

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

Address

Riccarton
Eh14 4as Edinburgh

United Kingdom

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU Contribution

€ 990 072,50

Website

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Participants (12)

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UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 719 757,50

DIMOKRITIO PANEPISTIMIO THRAKIS

Greece

EU Contribution

€ 203 750

BIO BASE EUROPE PILOT PLANT VZW

Belgium

EU Contribution

€ 413 750

EcoTechSystems Srl

Italy

EU Contribution

€ 134 600

ACONDICIONAMIENTO TARRASENSE ASSOCIACION

Spain

EU Contribution

€ 439 392,50

APIVITA KALLYNTIKA DIAITITIKA FARMAKA ANONYMI EMPORIKI KAI VIOTECHNIKI ETAIREIA

Greece

EU Contribution

€ 197 375

MARLOW FOODS LIMITED

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 199 375

MACPHIE LIMITED

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 150 430

NANOIMMUNOTECH SL

Spain

EU Contribution

€ 297 898,75

PANEPISTIMIO PATRON

Greece

EU Contribution

€ 571 125

NOVA-INSTITUT FUR POLITISCHE UND OKOLOGISCHE INNOVATION GMBH

Germany

EU Contribution

€ 130 062,50

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHUMBRIA AT NEWCASTLE

United Kingdom

EU Contribution

€ 302 058,75

Project information

MARISURF

Grant agreement ID: 635340

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 September 2015
End date

31 August 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.3.2.

Overall budget:

€ 4 749 647,50
EU contribution

€ 4 749 647,50

Coordinated by:

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MARISURF (NOVEL, SUSTAINABLE MARINE BIO-SURFACTANT / BIO-EMULSIFIERS FOR COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION)

Reporting period: 2017-03-01 to 2018-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Surfactants (SAs) & emulsifiers are an important class of chemical agents widely used in almost every sector of modern industry. Surfactants reduce the surface tension and are used widely in detergents, dispersants &foaming agents. Emulsifiers can be used as an additive to stabilise oil in processed foods or cosmetic creams. The huge market demand is currently met almost exclusively by synthetic, mainly petroleum-based, chemical products, which are usually non-biodegradable & mostly toxic or GM plant based products (used in foods), which are undesirable by some end-users. Their biologically produced counterparts (i.e. biosurfactants & bioemulsifiers) offer more green sustainable alternatives. This has led to a number of manufacturers looking for ways to increase competitiveness through searching for underexploited sources such as the marine environment.
The MARISURF consortium has 13 partners:
5 academic Institutions: Heriot Watt University (HWU) , Ulster University, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) , University of Patras (UPAT), Northumbria University (UNN)
4 industrial companies: Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant VZW, EcTechSystens Srl, Nova-Institut fur politische und okologische innovation GmbH, Acondicionamiento Tarrasense Association (LEITAT)
4 end-user companies: APIVITA SA, Marlow Foods Ltd, Macphie of Glenbervie Ltd, Nanoimmunotech SL
Our objectives are:
• to develop innovative approaches in discovering, characterizing & producing novel marine-derived biosurfactants from a large bacterial collection (greater than 500 strains) housed at HWU, originally isolated from various coastal & open ocean waters around the world
• to develop novel, economic, & eco-friendly end-products with commercial applications in order to replace synthetic counterparts
• to demonstrate the functionality of new product development for commercial exploitation.
The MARISURF project has a budget of 4,749,649 euros, started in September 2015 & will finish in August 2020. The consortium has the expertise to deliver the objectives. During the first period the consortium identified promising strains for ongoing development work, & in period 2, work is ongoing to characterize the bio surfactants (structural, functional & toxicological) produced by these strains, & to scale up fermentation to pilot scale. The 4 end-users represent different commercial sectors & have played a key role in highlighting the properties they require from the biosurfactants / emulsifiers. The diagram below highlights the work planned for the project.
MARISURF will improve the quality of life by using natural ingredients produced by marine microbes to make consumer products more sustainable & healthier.

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

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)

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Project information

MARISURF

Grant agreement ID: 635340

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 September 2015
End date

31 August 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.3.2.

Overall budget:

€ 4 749 647,50
EU contribution

€ 4 749 647,50

Coordinated by:

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

Project information

MARISURF

Grant agreement ID: 635340

Project website

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 September 2015
End date

31 August 2020

Funded under:

H2020-EU.3.2.

Overall budget:

€ 4 749 647,50
EU contribution

€ 4 749 647,50

Coordinated by:

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

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Last update: 1 March 2017

Record number: 193327

CORDIS

Objective

Coordinator

Participants (12)

Project information

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MARISURF (NOVEL, SUSTAINABLE MARINE BIO-SURFACTANT / BIO-EMULSIFIERS FOR COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION)

Project information

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CORDIS

Objective

Coordinator

Participants (12)

Project information

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MARISURF (NOVEL, SUSTAINABLE MARINE BIO-SURFACTANT / BIO-EMULSIFIERS FOR COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION)

Project information

Deliverables

Publications

Project information

Project information

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