The fourth and final EcoPlastiC General Assembly took place on 4 September 2025 in Belgrade (Serbia). The GA provided an opportunity for all European partners from Ireland (

)to meet in person, summarise the overall achievements for each Work Package (WP), define the final steps of the project and draft the plans for beyond the project.

This meeting was organized jointly with the 

 General Assembly, as these two projects share the vision, mission and fields of research, pushing boundaries of science behind bioplastics. Prof. Aggelos Tsakanikas from NTUA Technology Transfer Office gave a talk on “Intellectual property and commercialization potential of research outputs” and Dr Anthi Karnaouri shared insights on “Exploring fungi and their enzymes for biotransformations: From plastic degradation to furan oxidation and functional materials”.

Both meetings were fruitful and full of discussions, and the networking and collaborations will continue beyond the end of EcoPlastiC project.

EcoPlastiC & TwInn4MicroUp teams at the Centre for the Promotion of Science in Belgrade

Overall, processes for post-consumer PET textiles and enzymatic degradation were developed within EcoPlastiC. Recovery of 97% TPA from mixed plastics was achieved. Production and extraction optimization of PHA recovery from biomass was carried out using green procedures with up to 96-97% purity. 50% reduction in energy use and CO₂ emissions compared with fossil fuels monomer production as per the project’s Life Cycle Assessment. Regarding the commercialisation, a feasibility study was performed by a company where the bioadhesives were identified as the most promising product.

 (Green depolymerization of mixed PET waste plastics), 

 presented the development of green chemical processes for efficient PET monomer yield and biotechnological clean-up, even from challenging mixed PET streams. Over 99% of TPA yield was recovered from mixed PET (including textiles and metallised plastics) via REX (reactive extrusion). LCA analysis confirmed the process is environmentally viable, with energy intensity & EG emissions as improvement targets.

 (Design and optimization of the AVE microbiomes), 

 investigated a total of 39 microbial strains, including 29 newly isolated strains. Both mixed and pure cultures were examined and aerobic processes were found to outperform anaerobic ones in terms of overall efficiency. Among the pure cultures studied, 

 yielded the highest levels of microbial protein production, with protein contents reaching up to 80%. The most promising PHA production was achieved using 

 mixed culture, with PHA contents reaching up to 40%. Despite slightly lower productivities, mixed cultures offer a more cost-effective and scalable solution.

 focused on three biological processes that were developed for the valorization of mixed PET waste degradation products, progressing from lab scale to scale-up: (1) PHA and biomass production by a mixed aerobic culture was successfully scaled up to 25 L; (2) Protein-rich biomass production using 

 strain 24A was scaled up to 10 L. (3) PHA production by the newly isolated strain DM-14 was achieved, with a PHA content of 17%. Furthermore, 80-100% biopolymer recovery was achieved without compromising polymer properties by enzymatic procedures with commercial and recombinant enzymes. Plastic materials were developed from mixed culture biomass and strain 24A biomass. For the same WP, 

 developed a novel enzymatic cocktail - crude protein mix from 

, for efficient extraction of all biopolymer types (PHB, PHBV and mcl-PHA) reaching 60-100% recoveries, and 5 times lower enzyme load in comparison to commercial enzymes. Solvent-based methods were explored where 55% biopolymer recovery was achieved for PHBV, PHO and mcl-PHA. Thymol-based NADES showed to be efficient in recovery of PHB (up to 92%) with solvent recycling. Novel eco-materials were developed: Bio-PUs (bacterial biomass as filler and mcl-PHA based polyurethanes.

 was developing films with both low- and high-PHA content biomass in TUS, each exhibiting distinct mechanical and barrier properties. Especially, valpromic biomass improved oxygen barrier properties of the films. SCP-based adhesive outperformed commercial Pritt glue sticks and performed in parallel with superglue on paperboard substrate. This has the potential to be used as packaging sealants for dry applications. At 

, a prototype sneaker was developed and 3D printed from bacterial PHB, in collaboration with Sferikon design.

 (Dissemination, Exploitation & Communication), 

reported that all KPIs have been met, and that website is performing excellently. Many promotional materials were given to attendees. They announced the release of the final EcoPlastiC Newsletter #4 at the end of September 2025. Special emphasis was also on the DEC (Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication) and DMP (Data Management Plan) implementation and finalization of the DEC and DMP final deliverables.

Representatives from all partner institutions attended the GA, and so did the collaborators from 

 (Coordinator and Team Leader), Laura Rodriguez Garcia, Bor Shin Chee, Cuneyt Erdinct Tas, Buket Alkan Tas, Eduardo Lanzagorta Garcia (Project Ambassador), Necdet Ozcelik, Zeliha Ece Ozcelik

 (Team Leader), Jelena Simic (Project Ambassador), Marijana Ponjavic, Sanja Skaro Bogojevic, Jelena Milovanovic, Milica Ciric, Dusan Milivojevic, Ivana Aleksic, Vukasin Jankovic, Lena Pantelic, Milan Slavkovic

EcoPlastiC & TwInn4MicroUp during the tour of Belgrade

We are happy to report that in the closing chapter of EcoPlastiC we can reflect on successful milestones and celebrate the project’s impact. Our work and results point to future directions in sustainable innovation.

EcoPlastiC General Assembly IV

Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS)

 and took place in Milan (Italy) from 14-17 July 2025.

The conference had more than 2000 participants from more than 95 countries. There were eight parallel sessions, with more than 150 workshops and presentations. The full Book of Abstracts is available 

 (Microbial Dynamics in a Changing World; Microbial Processes and Environmental Interactions; Evolutionary Innovations)

 (The Microbiome Revolution; Cutting-Edge Diagnostics and Therapeutics; Antimicrobial Resistance)

 (Synthetic Biology and Bioinformatics; Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology; Microbes, Society and Sustainable Solutions)

 (Career, Skills and Entrepreneurship; Grants and Funding; Societies and Networking, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Communication and Outreach; Publishing and Research Transparency; Education and Mentoring)

Prof. Chris Greening – “Microbial oxidation of atmospheric trace gases: from enzyme to ecosystems”

Prof. Eran Elinav – “Host-microbiome interaction in health and disease”

Prof. Gian Maria Rossolini “The evolutionary complexity of antimicrobial resistance (in a rapidly changing environment)”

Prof. Janet Knutson Jansson – “Dynamics of soil microorganisms in space”

Within the ‘Eco Innovation’ and ‘Biotechnology’ themes, Dr Maria Nicolau Batista (NOVA) presented a poster “Harnessing the power of bacteria to fight recalcitrant post-consumer PET-waste burden” (No. 075) co-authored by Dr Patricia Concórdio-Reis (NOVA), Buket Alkan Tas (TUS), Dr Marija Nicevic (TUS), Dr Margaret Brennan-Fournet (TUS), Dr Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic (IMGGE), Dr Cristiana A. V. Torres (NOVA), Prof. Maria A. M. Reis (NOVA), Dr Filomena Freitas (NOVA).

EcoPlastiC at FEMS MICRO 2025

11th International Conference of Mikrobiokosmos

 was organised as a joint international conference of the MikroBioKosmos Society (Hellenic Scientific Society, MKB) & The Central and East Europe Symposium of Microbial Ecology (CEESME) which promotes the research for the protection, exploration and exploitation of the microbial national resources. This year, 

took place at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The IMGGE representatives at Mikrobiokosmos (from left to right)

Dr Sanja Skaro Bogojevic, Dr Jelena Milovanovic and Dr Marijana Ponjavic

The MBK-CEESME 2025 conference brought together leading minds in microbial ecology, biotechnology and environmental microbiology. This year, the Mikrobiokosmos event served as a hub for knowledge exchange, networking and pointing the cutting-edge research across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well as a scientific fest on all possible (and impossible!) aspects of microbial life in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, agriculture and food science, biotechnology and bioengineering, climate change, bio-economy, antimicrobial resistance and host-microbe interactions.

The number of the total participants was over 400 researchers, professionals and students from across Europe and beyond, with more than 60 invited speakers, including keynote experts in microbial genomics, host-microbe interactions and climate-related microbiology. The presentations, approximately 180 oral and poster presentations, covered various topics:

- Antimicrobial resistance in the environment

The complete Abstract Book is available here. 

https://afea.eventsair.com/mbkceesme2025/abstract-book

As IMGGE representatives, Dr Marijana Ponjavic and Dr Sanja Skaro Bogojevic, presented the 

Tuning material properties by blending bacterial biopolymers polyhydroxyalkanoates and nanocellulose

 by Marijana Ponjavic, Sanja Skaro Bogojevic, Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic, Irena Zivkovic, from the 

Group for Eco-Biotechnology and Drug Development

, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE), University of Belgrade.

Dr Marijana Ponjavic and Dr Sanja Skaro Bogojevic from IMGGE with the poster “Tuning material properties by blending bacterial biopolymers polyhydroxyalkanoates and nanocellulose”