Periodic Reporting for period 3 - NENU2PHAR (For a sustainable and european value chain of PHA-based materials for high-volume consumer products)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-03-01 al 2024-02-29
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable and bio-based polymers. It is expected that PHAs could gradually substitute conventional plastics since they have similar physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties. The fact that PHAs can be obtained by a purely biotechnological route makes them particularly attractive. In addition, PHA has been reported to spontaneously degrade in aquatic environments representing a promising biodegradable substitutes for a number of high-volume consumer products. NENU2PHAR project will focus on the development of a PHAs stream to initiate a competitive value chain of bioplastic material for high-volume consumer product. The goal of NENU2PHAR is to set up a new European value chain of PHA-based bio-plastic products from a sustainable bio-source with an acceptable End of Life. NENU2PHAR has developed a PHA-production stream integrated in a circular economy concept, from the production from aquatic organisms to the biodegradability or recyclability of plastic products to new compounds. To reach such ambitious target the NENU2PHAR project had 6 main objectives: 1) Develop competitive bio-source of PHAs polymers, 2) Formulate and functionalise polymer for masterbatch and compounding, 3) Identify processes of PHA-material to reach defined functional properties of bioplastic better than fossil-fuel counterparts, 4) Develop eco-designed PHA-biobased products for high volume consumer products, 5) Demonstrate the circular economy and sustainability of the NENU2PHAR value chain and 6) Increase stakeholders and consumer awareness of new bio-plastic products
The NENU2PHAR project has reached all technical objectives after 42 months, all the WP are successfully concluded and their specific objectives have been achieved. NENU2PHAR has set up a new European value chain of PHA-based bio-plastic products from microalgae biomass with an acceptable End of Life, integrated in a circular economy concept, from the PHA-polymer production to the biodegradability or recyclability of plastic products. The project successful achieved the up-scale of the PHA-production value chain at TRL 5, also the NENU2PHAR PHA-based formulations were processed (thermoforming, blow extrusion, cast extrusion, 3D printing, yarn extrusion…) and successfully up-scaled into the targeted NENU2PHAR demonstrators, in this sense, the prototypes for the high-volume products targeted on the project have been succesfully made and tested by the industrial partners.
ALl the developed materials present an acceptable End of Life (plastic sorting, mechanical and chemical recycling, compostability, biodegradation in marine environment...) and the environmental, economic and social acceptance of PHA from microalgae has been completely assessed and through the life cycle assessment of the NENU2PHAR scenarios, covering from microalgae biomass cultivation to high-purity PHA production under different industrial-scale projected conditions. The environmental hotspots have been identified considering upscaling measures, improvement opportunities to increase the environmental performance of micro-algae based PHAs have been detected with a comparison between NENU2PHAR and different scenarios. Safe-by-Material and Safe-by-Process strategy and Safe-by-Design approaches have been developed and the assessment of food contact compliance, using migration modelling software and migration tests, concluded that the formulations used for food packaging prototypes are compliant. Finally, concerning the social acceptance of PHA materials main obstacles and challenges have been identified providing recommendations to boost their social acceptance.
ALl the developed materials present an acceptable End of Life (plastic sorting, mechanical and chemical recycling, compostability, biodegradation in marine environment...) and the environmental, economic and social acceptance of PHA from microalgae has been completely assessed and through the life cycle assessment of the NENU2PHAR scenarios, covering from microalgae biomass cultivation to high-purity PHA production under different industrial-scale projected conditions. The environmental hotspots have been identified considering upscaling measures, improvement opportunities to increase the environmental performance of micro-algae based PHAs have been detected with a comparison between NENU2PHAR and different scenarios. Safe-by-Material and Safe-by-Process strategy and Safe-by-Design approaches have been developed and the assessment of food contact compliance, using migration modelling software and migration tests, concluded that the formulations used for food packaging prototypes are compliant. Finally, concerning the social acceptance of PHA materials main obstacles and challenges have been identified providing recommendations to boost their social acceptance.
NENU2PHAR will contribute to the creation of new cross-sector interconnection in the bio-based economy by means of the interconnection between the aquatic biomass production sector and the plastic production sector. This cross-sector interconnection has been established as the core concept of NENU2PHAR, the production of PHA biopolymer based on microalgae biomass achieved. The NENU2PHAR value chain addresses new (or optimised) bio-based value chains, the PHA-based bioplastic products from a biological source have been transformed into plastic compounds, the End of Life of these products is promising in terms of biodegradation. 4 new bio-based materials are identified from the initial aquatic carbon feedstock, these are the following bio-polymers: hydrolysed sugars, starch, cellulose and PHA.
The new ready-to-market bioplastic products developed in NENU2PHAR with new bio-based materials are: Flexible PHB based films compounded with other biopolymers which will serve as lid films for food packaging; PHB-based rigid films which will serve as a tray after thermoforming process to replace actual multi-layer petrochemical-based structure used for food packaging; Biodegradable and compostable film to substitute actual multilayer fossil-based film for food packaging in a stand-up pouch format; Biodegradable and compostable thermoformed cup food packaging applications, more specifically for fruits puree; Packaging for personal care, roll-on type of packaging consisting of 3 parts: bottle, ball and cap; Woven ground cover based on the PHB formulations; Formulation of PHA destined to 3D printing and Surgical meshes as bioresorbable implants.
The use of microalgae as the bioplastic feedstock avoids both competition with food sources and the environmental impacts associated with agricultural activities for the production of 1st generation biomass, predominantly used in commercial bio-based plastics (such as the use of fertilisers and pesticides causing water eutrophication and soil acidification). Microalgae-based PHA production can be achieved by integrating carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) processes into microalgae farming activities. The results revealed that microalgae-based PHA production could be economically viable, but it will depend on establishing well a series of production and marketing parameters, such as: the location of the plant, the production scale, the cost of CO2 supply (ensuring cheap sources or even at zero cost by using captured CO2 from industrial emissions), and the PHA selling price. Concerning the awareness and understanding of bio-based economy in the society, the project held a workshop on societal acceptability inviting different stakeholders, including companies and SME from the plastics and bioplastics sector, to analyse the barriers around PHA acceptability, and highlighting the key elements to design a proper strategy for their future acceptance. NENU2PHAR results estimate that the social footprint of the microalgae-based PHA produced in EU was estimated lower than for PHA production in the United States, while being significantly lower than for Chinese PHA production. These NENU2PHAR results should therefore be used as a decision-making tool towards the social improvement of the productive process by evaluating in more detail the hotpots and proposing measures that contribute to improve the social conditions.
The new ready-to-market bioplastic products developed in NENU2PHAR with new bio-based materials are: Flexible PHB based films compounded with other biopolymers which will serve as lid films for food packaging; PHB-based rigid films which will serve as a tray after thermoforming process to replace actual multi-layer petrochemical-based structure used for food packaging; Biodegradable and compostable film to substitute actual multilayer fossil-based film for food packaging in a stand-up pouch format; Biodegradable and compostable thermoformed cup food packaging applications, more specifically for fruits puree; Packaging for personal care, roll-on type of packaging consisting of 3 parts: bottle, ball and cap; Woven ground cover based on the PHB formulations; Formulation of PHA destined to 3D printing and Surgical meshes as bioresorbable implants.
The use of microalgae as the bioplastic feedstock avoids both competition with food sources and the environmental impacts associated with agricultural activities for the production of 1st generation biomass, predominantly used in commercial bio-based plastics (such as the use of fertilisers and pesticides causing water eutrophication and soil acidification). Microalgae-based PHA production can be achieved by integrating carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) processes into microalgae farming activities. The results revealed that microalgae-based PHA production could be economically viable, but it will depend on establishing well a series of production and marketing parameters, such as: the location of the plant, the production scale, the cost of CO2 supply (ensuring cheap sources or even at zero cost by using captured CO2 from industrial emissions), and the PHA selling price. Concerning the awareness and understanding of bio-based economy in the society, the project held a workshop on societal acceptability inviting different stakeholders, including companies and SME from the plastics and bioplastics sector, to analyse the barriers around PHA acceptability, and highlighting the key elements to design a proper strategy for their future acceptance. NENU2PHAR results estimate that the social footprint of the microalgae-based PHA produced in EU was estimated lower than for PHA production in the United States, while being significantly lower than for Chinese PHA production. These NENU2PHAR results should therefore be used as a decision-making tool towards the social improvement of the productive process by evaluating in more detail the hotpots and proposing measures that contribute to improve the social conditions.