The aim of PULPACKTION project is to develop cellulose-based tailored-to-purpose packaging solutions for specific food and electronic packaging applications which needs medium and high barrier requirement’s and that nowadays are packing in polymer fossil based solutions. This innovation will take advantage of the flexibility in the wet-moulding production of wood pulp based materials. Different types of wood pulp will be combined to prepare slurries for wet-moulding applications. These slurries will be additivated with biopolymers and other bio-based compounds in order to tailor the final properties of the resulting wet-moulded materials. By tailoring the composition of the wet mouldable slurry, a wide range of final properties in the resulting dry material will be achieved. This flexible packaging manufacturing system will be combined with 100% bio-based coatings and films on the cellulose-based substrate. To fulfil the properties required for PULPACKTION’s specific packaging applications using a fully bio-based approach, additional barriers will be implemented onto the wet moulded substrate. For this purpose, new bio-based polymer blends will be optimized. These new blends, containing biopolymers such as thermoplastic starch (TPS), poly (lactic acid) (PLA), other bio-additives, and reinforcements such as microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), will be processed into multilayer films, composites and coatings. In this manner, not only coatings for improved barrier properties, but also 100% bio-based films for packages’ top lids will be produced. Therefore, a final 100% bio-biobased integral packaging solution with similar properties to existing fossil-based packaging solutions will be achieved.

Today, fresh food as well as convenience food is sold in packages. Hygienic conditions, long shelf life and easy availability of these packed products account for our standard of living. However, this convenience contributes in a significant way to environmental pollution, as packaging is mainly achieved by plastic materials in this case. Biodegradable packaging materials have been on the market for many decades. However, there are severe restrictions preventing their broad application in food packaging, as these materials do not provide the requested properties, such as a sufficient barrier against water vapour, oxygen or flavours. Our idea is to improve these properties by a biodegradable coating. We have developed high-barrier coatings based on a class of materials with glass-like structural units, so called ORMOCER®s. However, these coatings are not biobased, nor biodegradable. The target of the planned project is the development of new functional hybrid (inorganic-organic) coatings for applications in food, cosmetic & medical device packaging. These new coatings will be based on the work of Fraunhofer ISC who has patented and licensed ORMOCER® lacquers used for coating applications in order to increase barrier properties of packaging films. The aim of the planned project is to synthesise new coating materials based on bioORMOCER®s, which are formed of functionalised biopolymers extracted from lignocellulosic biomass sources using the bioORMOCER® synthesis approach. In particular, the polymeric structures of hemicelluloses and polyesters will be exploited. By the use of these biopolymer, the organoalkoxysilanes which are components of the state-of-the art ORMOCER® lacquers will be substituted to obtain a purely biobased functional coating material. The new functional bioORMOCER®s will be coated on flexible and rigid biopolymer substrates and tested for packaging applications for food, cosmetic and medical devices.

The project aims at the valorization of agricultural residues coming from mushroom (Agaricus Bisporus) farming residues as a case to set up new cascading possibilities using innovative procedures to extract high value bio-based additives (antioxidants, antimicrobials, proteins), convert lipids into bioplasticizers and polysaccharides (glucans and fermentable sugars) into biopolymers using remaining side streams in substrates to close the agricultural cycle by composting and/or biogas synthesis. The funguschain project will demonstrate its industrial viability by building a new biorefinery that will use cost-effective extraction technologies (MAE and HWPE) revalorizing more than 65% of waste into valuable additives. These additives will be incorporated into high added value products and industrially validated towards 3 key value chains in the European economy (food, cleaning and plastic sectors). Industrial lines from end-users will be modified and adapted to the developed products. These products are: food supplements for elderlies, cleaning products, novel biobased thermoplastic masterbatches, bioplasticizers and industrial film products (thin bags and gloves 50 microns and mulching). A business strategy to valorise the products in a collaborative manner will be designed, leading to safe, sustainable, economically viable and attractive products acceptable to consumers. Partners will ensure that products meet legal and market requirements. The project will forge and propel industries growing within the frame of the European bioeconomy, boosting the community network. The consortium involves 16 partners (4 RTDs, 4 Large industry and 8 SMEs) accounting with 5 BBI full members and 3 associate members. Funguschain project has a duration of 48 months and a total estimated budget of 8,143,661 M€ plus 3,500,000M€ in additional activities dedicated to the construction of the DEMO biorefinery plant.

AFTERLIFE proposes a flexible, cost- and resource-efficient process framed in the zero-waste and circular economy approach for the recovery and valorisation of the relevant fractions from wastewater. The first step of such process is an initial step consisting of a cascade of membrane filtration units for the separation of the totally of solids in wastewater. Then, the concentrates recovered in each unit will be treated to obtain high-pure extracts and metabolites or, alternatively, to be converted into value-added biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates). Moreover, the outflow of the process is an ultra-pure water stream that can be directly reused. The outcomes of the project will be focused on: - Demonstration of an integrated pilot using real wastewater from three water intensive food processing industries (fruit processing, cheese and sweets manufacturing) - Demonstration of the applicability of the recovered compounds and the value added bioproducts in manufacturing environments The design and optimisation of the AFTERLIFE process following a holistic approach will contribute to improve performance and reduce the costs associated to wastewater treatment by maximising the value recovery.