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The first non-fermentative production process for low cost synthesis of biodegradable PHAs bioplastic from vegetal oils and fats

Project description

A new low-cost route towards better biodegradable plastic

POLìPO S.r.l. from Italy has developed an innovative low-cost chemical process to produce polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from vegetable oils and fats derived from the non-food industry. PHA is the only bioplastic that is 100 % degradable in a natural environment, but its present applications are limited due to the high costs of production. The main advantage of PHA, in comparison to other biodegradable plastics, is its resistance to temperature, hydrolytic degradation, UV radiation, oil and water. The EU-funded POLIPO project will carry out the feasibility study for this technology, which includes customer validation, defining the industrial chain, profiling partners and investors, and refining the business plan.

Objective

POLìPO S.r.l. has developed the first chemical route (not based on bacterial fermentation) to produce PHA from vegetal oils and fats. PHA is the only bioplastic which is 100% degradable in natural environment but is presently only applied in niche applications due the high costs of production. POLìPO's chemical route to PHA represents a game changing technology in the field of bioplastic, making it possible to produce a biodegradable bioplastic with key advantages with respect to current fermentative route: reduction of production cost > 35 %; reduction of investment for production plant of around 70-80%; reduction of plant size of around 50%; use of non-food raw materials.
The unique selling point is then to enable production of 100% biodegradable PHAs from different non-food oil sources in a competitive manner for large scale applications (e.g. food packaging) which are presently not allowed by the high price of PHAs. This will allow as first step to substitute bio-based PET in this segment, worth 800 kt/year in 2016, and successively targeting substitution of fossil based plastics.
After validation at pre-industrial scale, POLìPO’s process will be licensed to existing and new industrial players in the bioplastic manufacturing sector, in the form of License Agreement or Joint Venture. In the feasibility study POLìPO needs to 1) carry out Customer Validation for the technology, 2) Define the industrial upstream and downstream value chain and profiling industrial partners and investors 3) Refine the Business Plan the Business Model and the Investment strategy.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

POLIPO SRL
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
VIA DELLA BASTITA 35
12045 FOSSANO CN
Italy

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Nord-Ovest Piemonte Cuneo
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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