Highlights of the first EcoPlastiC General Assembly

The first EcoPlastiC General Assembly (GA) took place on 25 January 2023 at AIMPLAS facilities in Valencia (Spain). The GA was an excellent opportunity for all international partners from Ireland (TUS), Belgium (Avecom), Portugal (NOVA), Serbia (IMGGE), and Sweden (KTH) to meet in person, present the latest updates within each Work Package (WP) and do a recap on all priority actions.

WP1 led by TUS focuses on project management and coordination of the EcoPlastiC project. Key challenges and deliverables for 2023 were presented and information on BioICEP technologies required to achieve EcoPlastiC goals was shared. This presentation was followed by updates from other partners, who pointed out their respective WP's main objectives and presented some preliminary results.

WP2, also managed by TUS, will deliver efficient PET and other polymer, monomer, and multimer stream production processes from difficult to recycle, post-use PET packaging and textile plastics, as suitable fermentable feedstock for biopolymers and eco-plastics.

The main goal of WP3, led by Avecom, is to isolate and enrich the best-performing microbial communities that can convert treated plastics into more valuable products.

The objective of WP4, led by NOVA, is the development of PHA production with promising mechanical properties.

WP5 will be in charge of the creation of a range of demonstrator PHA-based backing products, including packaging trays and multilayers, the production of which is in progress at KTH, the leader of this WP.

Finally, WP6 led by IMGGE aims to ensure that EcoPlastiC engages in an open and transparent way with a range of audiences, including the wider scientific research community, public, industry stakeholders, small and medium enterprises, regulatory authorities, environmental groups, and policymakers. Dissemination materials were shared with all the partners and can be found here. The success and performance of social media will be validated using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

We reached an agreement that regular EcoPlastiC meetings will be organized each 2 months online, to make sure this project moves forward according to plans. In addition, we will strive to have in-person meetings twice per year, where the focus will be on networking and collaborations among partners.