Project description
Open innovation for bio-based applications
The bio-based sector is one of Europe’s most resource-intensive. As a key player in the economy, it serves as an impetus towards circular business models of resource efficiency. Recent developments in bio-based nanomaterials are combined with biotechnologies to convert renewable resources into high value-added biopolymers used by the food packaging, construction, automotive and printed electronics sectors. The EU-funded BIOMAC project will create an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) ecosystem openly accessible by SMEs and the industry to a single-entry point. The project envisages establishing an open collaboration community that supports innovation and minimises investment risks. OITB services will assess regulation, safety, sustainability, circularity and market potential with modelling, process control, standardisation and characterisation.
Objective
Recent developments render the biobased sector a key player in European Economy providing a great impetus towards Circular Business Models of resource efficiency. Developments in biobased nanomaterials are coupled with biotechnologies applied to biomass converting the renewable resources into high added-value polymers. BIOMAC will establish an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) Ecosystem providing open access to SMEs or Industry to a single-entry point. Starting from the utilization of biomass sources followed by the production of biobased nanoparticles and different building blocks the ecosystem produces biopolymers for the strategic sectors of Food Packaging, Construction, Automotive and Printed Electronics which consist a high market share. A self-sustainable open innovation ecosystem for the upscaling of upscaled processes across the supply and value chain is intended to be created in order fill this gap. Although the last two decades a high number of publications have been only a very limited number of such cases has been finally commercialized and reached the market end users. Some of the reasons that these have not been adopted by the market are lack of investment, funding for further development, upscaling and the limited willingness of end users to adopt nanomaterials into their processes, this is the ‘valley of death’ which BIOMAC intends to overcome. The OITB will offer services that cover the assessment of regulation & safety, sustainability, circularity and market potential among with modeling, process control, standardization and characterization; accessible at fair conditions and cost. BIOMAC establishes a concrete community of open collaboration for stakeholders and customers enabling innovation and minimization of investment risks. This will be achieved by offering an open innovation ecosystem, in which technologies that have been developed up to TRL4-5 will be able to be upscaled and validated up to TRL 7.
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated