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Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics

Project description

Transforming plastic waste into new polymers

Europe’s waste management policy has evolved over the last 30 years – shifting away from discarding waste as an unwanted burden to seeing it as a valued resource. Today, plastic waste is considered a priority waste stream. The EU-funded BioICEP project aims to reduce the burden of plastic waste. Forming a European-Chinese collaboration, the project will develop a solution for mixed plastic pollution environments. Specifically, researchers will work on three innovative booster technologies aimed at increasing plastics degradation to record levels. BioICEP will take a triple-action depolymerisation systems approach to break down plastic waste: mechano-biochemical disintegration processes, biocatalytic digestion and microbial consortia. The outputs will be used as building blocks for new polymers or other bioproducts.

Objective

The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) is a pan European-Chinese collaboration formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. Different mixed plastic pollution environments are represented, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations. A number of innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting mixed plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable. Our approach is The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) consortium is a pan European-Chinese collaborative formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. The countries have been selected to represent different mixed plastic pollution environments, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations. Three innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable. Our approach is a triple-action depolymerisation system where plastic waste will be broken down in three consecutive processes: 1) mechano-biochemical disintegration processes, including a new proprietary sonic-green-chemical technology to reduce the polymer molecular weight of the base polymer to make it amenable to biodegradation; 2) biocatalytic digestion, with enzymes enhanced through a range of innovative techniques including accelerated screening through novel fluorescent sensor and directed evolution; and 3) microbial consortia developed from best in class single microbial strains, which combined leads to highly efficient degradation of mixed plastic waste streams. The outputs from this degradation process will be used as building blocks for new polymers or other bioproducts to enable a new plastic waste-based circular economy.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

RIA - Research and Innovation action

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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-NMBP-TR-IND-2018-2020

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Coordinator

Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
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.

€ 1 304 547,00
Address
Moylish Park Campus
V94 EC5T Limerick
Ireland

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Region
Ireland Southern Mid-West
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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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.

€ 3 211 470,50

Participants (13)

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