Two new projects funded by Horizon Europe through the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, MoeBIOS and ReBioCycle, have been recently approved, and European Bioplastics is proud to be on board! Both projects were set up to respond to the challenges of the call on “Recycling bio-based plastics increasing sorting and recycled content (upcycling)” (HORIZON-JU-CBE-2023-IA-04 ). Several members of EUBP are also involved in them as a partner. Congratulations to Novamont, TotalEnergies Corbion, AIMPLAS and to us, European Bioplastics, for these successful initiatives. European Bioplastics will be mostly involved in the dissemination of results and bringing the inputs of the projects to the attention of EU policymakers. Both projects will start around summer 2024 and run for 48 months.
Improving waste management of biobased plastics and the upcycling in packaging, textile and agriculture sectors (MoeBIOS)
MoeBIOS is led by ITENE (ES) and counts 21 partners. MoeBIOS will develop three value chains incorporating separate recycling streams for bioplastics to improve waste management efficiency throughout Europe. The project will create linkages at the different key stages of the whole chain of waste management, from the collection of the bioplastic waste (simulated streams), up to the upcycling and validation of the final recycled end-products (holistic and coordinated solution). The newly created value chain will imply sorting, conditioning, and valorising three types of waste streams from the packaging, agriculture and textile industries into three end-products, targeting to reach at least the same quality and functionality as the original grades, while the end users’ acceptance will be assessed as well. As cornerstone targets for maximizing the project’s impact, the upscaling of the recycling processes will be integrated in pilot plants on the premises of actual industrial recycling lines currently operating in waste management companies, not disrupting them, and reaching a final TRL 6- TRL 7, or even beyond. MoeBIOS will focus on bioplastics for which recycling processes are still not in place, excluding bio-based analogues (“drop-ins”): PLA and PLA blends, PHA and its blends, PBS and PEF. The use of PBAT will be assessed as well.
European Bioplastics is involved in the implementation of the MoeBIOS multi-actor approach (MAA) to engage waste producers, waste managers, biobased and (bio)plastics industry, public authorities, standardisation agencies, consumer associations and media multipliers, creating a co-creation and co-ownership environment feeding into the technical work packages. MoeBIOS is funded by the European Union through the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.
A new European blueprint for circular bioplastics upcycling solutions (ReBioCycle)
ReBioCycle is led by the University College Dublin and counts 20 partners. ReBioCycle will develop a portfolio of novel bioplastic sorting and recycling technologies within three complementary waste-processor-centric hubs. Within these hubs, ReBioCyle will test the novel recycling technologies on three types of bioplastics (e.g., PLA, PHA, Mater-Bi) to demonstrate how it is possible to obtain recycled polymers of equal or superior grade. The three hubs will be established for demonstrating different technologies and technology readiness levels (TRL) and will be located in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. The hubs will focus on chemical technology and enzymatic recycling to be scaled up to TRL 6 and 7. ReBioCycle will verify the industrial grade specifications of PLA, PHA, Mater-Bi and demonstrate them in real-world products, e.g., durable and multi-use packaging. The LCA analysis and tailored dissemination and exploitation plans will facilitate the uptake of ReBioCycle key exploitable results. European Bioplastics is involved in the dissemination and exploitation activities. Novamont and TotalEnergies Corbion are two of the technical partners. ReBioCycling is funded by the European Union through the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.
