With EcoVapor, we offer a smart steam boiler that will make steam production a very cost-effective (ca. 30-50% cheaper than typical 3-pass boilers of low NOx emissions), energy-efficient (up to 95% overall), smart (custom-designed based on specific needs for the industry which operates at different powers within a large modulation range (5-100%)), and environmentally friendly alternative (only 80mgNOx/kWh emissions able to comply with the most stringent regulations) to appeal to market segments that want to foster the uptake of new steam-generating technologies to reduce energy bills, optimise energy consumption, and reduce NOx emissions. Our company, ICI Caldaie, has partnered with Burnertech - a UK based engineering company specialised in design and manufacturing of tailored solutions for burner design – Troll System - an Italian company with more than 20 years expertise in custom-designed products of the electronic market - and CTIC-CITA - a Spanish cluster of companies of the F&B sector, to exploit €69.44 million accumulated revenues (by 2022) business opportunity. EcoVapor has been developed integrating a low NOx pre-mix burner developed by ICI based on the combustion head of Burnertech (patent application: WO2014167270 (A1)), and an e-term® PCB control electronics from Troll. We plan to penetrate initially the EU F&B industry by mid-2018 in countries coinciding with ICI highest volume of sales (Italy, Spain, UK, France, Poland, and Romania), and then, other industries starting from 2019 (i.e. textile, tanning, chemical, and pharmaceutical) in EU and non-EU countries we already have a consolidated presence (Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan) along with US and Canada by 2020, through direct contact of our current sales force.

Virgin olive oil (VOO) is a food commodity of high strategic economic importance for the EU. Leading the global VOO production, EU invests over €2.3B/year in policies that ocus on improving olive oil quality and encouraging oil producers to meet with consumers increasing demand for high-quality VOO. The OLIVE-SOUND concept was triggered by the need of the olive oil producers to face the main challenge in the current VOO extraction process; convert the long and costly batch step of malaxation of the olive paste into a continuous process. OLIVE-SOUND aims to introduce into the market in 36 months a novel Ultrasound reactor for the treatment of olive paste which will replace malaxation, restore continuity and boost the VOO extraction process. The application of ultrasounds directly to the olive paste improves both extraction efficiency and extraction rate resulting in an about 5% higher yield in 70% less extraction time. Due to the shorter extraction time and the release of antioxidant compounds promoted by US waves, the extracted oil is superior in terms of both sensorial and nutritional quality. OLIVE-SOUND will reduce water use as well as the total energy consumption, improving sustainability and lowering the environmental impact of the VOO extraction process. With a cost approximately times less than half of the currently alternative solutions, our sustainable US reactor can increase the profit margin of olive oil producer by 4 %. We have already invested €1.9M to bring our OLIVE SOUND to TRL 6. The total investment of OLIVE-SOUND is €4,4M and the cumulative profit of OLIVE-SOUND related outputs will be €15,3M. The return on investment of OLIVE SOUND as project will be 2.49, therefore the pay back will be only 2 years after its commercialization.

Of the total plastic demand, approximately 40% is used to make packaging that is discarded within weeks or days. These short-life plastics bottles, containers, unit dose packaging, secondary packaging have important disadvantages regarding their usage and disposal. Traditional plastics are derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, used to produce large quantities of plastics that go to waste (38% go to landfills). Due to the increasing awareness of such environmental impact, there is a growing demand for packaging made from bioplastics (polymers derived from renewable resources or biodegradable polymers). For almost every conventional plastic there is now a bioplastic alternative available on the market that has the same properties with additional advantages. Currently bioplastics represent around 1% of the total plastic produced annually (2M in 2017) but the market is booming (20% growth annually) and many big firms are introducing bio-packaging in an attempt to position their products as green and include the sustainability claim. Moreover, about 80% of European consumers want to buy products which have minimal impact on the environment and will be willing to accept an additional charge in their shopping bag for sustainable packaging. Our project, BIOSNAP aims at taking full advantage of the bioplastics market growth and opportunities towards more sustainable products. We are providing a ready-to market, sustainable unit dose packaging that is 100% bio-based for food applications (olive oil, ketchup, or mayonnaise). Furthermore, it will be made of biodegradable and compostable materials in compliance with UNI EN13432. Our end users (food firms) will benefit from a premium and unique unit dose packaging on the market, and final consumers will benefit from its versatility and ease of use (one hand opening system), being able to safely dispose the packaging with the organic waste. The consortium expects to achieve a ROI of 15.3 from BIOSNAP.