 EcoPlastiC Steering Meeting (SM) took place on 12 April 2024 where partners presented the latest results within their respective Work Packages and discussed further actions, especially on potential commercialisation opportunities.

TUS shared the progress on the production of high yields of over 99% of terephthalic acid (TPA) monomer from textile feedstock by reactive extrusion (REX)/extraction/filtration processes, which was analysed by HPLC and fully characterised.

in a shake flask test under optimal conditions where similar results were observed for REXed PET and REXed metalized PET. In the mixed aerobic culture, continuous run with the aerobic sludge with REXed metalized PET was carried out, where it was observed that the REXed metalized PET is degradable and convertible in protein rich biomass, but optimisation might increase the yield. For the anaerobic sludge adaptation to REXed metalized PET, it was observed that 100 days were needed to start conversion into biogas.

At KTH, all biomasses obtained from NOVA and AVE were optimized at different temperatures with the common plasticising agents, glycerol and PEG 200, and then processed into films. All combinations look promising for improvement and implementation into multi-layer packaging applications.

IMGGE reported that the EcoPlastiC Newsletter #2 was successfully sent out to 213 subscribers and it’s available 

. Website continues to show excellent statistics and key performance indicators (KPIs) describing the social media activity are also increasing, as well as the number of EcoPlastiC publications and conferences.

Representatives from all partner institutions attended the SM:

 (Coordinator and Team Leader), Marija Mojicevic, Laura Rodriguez, Bor Shin Chee, Cuneyt Erdinct Tas, Buket Alkan Tas, Necdet Ozcelik, Zeliha Ece Ozcelik, Eduardo Lanzagorta Garcia, Jeovan Araujo, Chaitra Venkatesh

 (Team Leader), Kiran Reddy Baddigam, Anna Svagen Hanner

Regular EcoPlastiC SMs are organised each 2 months, to make sure this project moves forward according to plans.

Fifth EcoPlastiC Steering Meeting

The 13th CONGRESS OF MICROBIOLOGISTS OF SERBIA - 

: “From Biotechnology to Human and Planetary Health” was organised by the Serbian Society for Microbiology in Belgrade (Serbia).

 sessions were organised, and there were 

poster presentations from the research topics of:

INDUSTRIAL AND FOOD MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

MICROBIAL GENETICS, METAGENOMICS AND METAPROTEOMICS

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES IN ANTIMICROBIAL CONTROL

ACTIVE IMMUNIZATION AS THE KEY ELEMENT IN INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL

MULTI-DRUG AND PAN-DRUG RESISTANCE/HEALTH MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

BIOINFORMATICS WORKSHOP - NGS TECHNOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATION IN MICROBIOLOGY

, there was 1 plenary lecture presenting the results from the EcoPlastiC project:

Keynote lecture “From soil to lab: exploring toxicology with 

” by Dusan Milivojevic, Bogdan Cerovic, Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE), University of Belgrade, Serbia.

13th Congress Of Microbiologists Of Serbia - Mikromed Regio 5

The 2nd Congress of Molecular Biologist of Serbia (

), a national conference with international participation, was organized by the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology (MolBioS) in Belgrade (Serbia) from October 6-8, 2023.

This congress included 4 main Plenary Lectures by professors from UK, US and Serbia, 18 Session Plenary Lectures and 18 Invited Lectures, as well as 24 abstracts submitted by students (Bachelor, Master and PhD) and 91 abstracts from early career researchers (Postdocs).

, there were 2 lectures that presented results from the EcoPlastiC project:

Full Research Professor Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic from the from the 

Group for Eco-Biotechnology and Drug Development

 (IMGGE, Serbia) gave a Session Plenary Lecture “Microbes and microbial enzymes for degradation of (bio)plastics”

Associate research Professor Sanja Jeremic from the from the 

 (IMGGE, Serbia) gave an Invited Lecture “Bacterial nanocellulose – new beginning for end-of-life plastics”

EcoPlastiC at CoMBoS2 congress