Interdisciplinary team

As the project's coordinator, TUS focuses on all aspects of project management, progress reporting and EU Communication.

In addition, building on proprietary high-throughput PET and polyester depolymerization technologies, further mechano-green chemical processes will be developed and tailored for efficient PET monomer and other polymer monomer production from mixed PET plastics.

Avecom is specialized in steering and optimizing microbial processes in environmental and industrial applications. Avecom’s roles in the project are to:

• Isolate and enrich microbiomes capable of converting waste plastic monomers into PHA, methane, as well as other valuable products.

• Evaluate the performance of different aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in batch and continuous lab-scale fermentation experiments, as well as in pilot-scale bioreactors.

PHA recovery step has been recognized as one of the bottlenecks in larger scale production and the challenge is to achieve high recovery efficiency and a high degree of purity in a cheap and environmentally friendly way.

Nova focuses on technical scale aerobic PHA production. Enzymatic recovery using optimized enzyme cocktails will be employed, using both commercially available enzymes, as well as improved enzymes developed by IMGGE.

High performance eco-plastics blends and multilayers for food packaging applications will be prepared using produced PHAs including PHA and PHBV, PLA, nanocellulose and blends thereof.

The potential for large numbers of mechanical recycling cycles, as well as the biodegradability and amenability of the eco-plastics will be investigated.

Demonstration food packaging products will be compared with the equivalent petroleum based plastics currently in use and small-scale demonstrators will be prepared using pilot plant processing facilities.

The role of IMGGE in this project is to ensure engagement in an open and transparent way with a range of audiences, including the wider scientific research community, public, industry stakeholders, SMEs, regulatory authorities, environmental groups and policy makers. We are working on:

• development & implementation of the Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (DEC) Plan

• development and implementation of the Open Access Strategy and Data Management (DMP) Plan