BioSupPBioSupPack goal is to deliver novel, cost-competitive and versatile bio-based packaging solutions based on PHA, that demonstrate high-performance for the packaging of food, cosmetics, homecare and beverage products as well as no environmental damage during & after their use, by means of: 1. Optimization of PHA based formulations based on significantly use of >85% w/w of renewable resources. 2. Upscale the different conversion processes as well as post-consumers waste sorting & recycling following advanced industry 4.0 approach. 3. Broad the range of rigid packaging applications by tailoring biobased materials & packaging properties through the optimization of the formulations in combination with plasma technology or grafted coatings. 4. Integrate plasma technology in 3 different points of the value chain(biomasss pre-treatment, packaging production & packaging waste pre-treatment) increasing: i)PHB production yield, ii)PHB purity, iii) packaging performance(high oxygen & water barrier) and iv effectiveness & yield of enzymatic recycling. 5. Demonstrate and increase recyclability through:i) setting up a real-time monitoring system for the selective separation of developed packaging after its use; ii) mechanical recycling of industrial scraps and selective enzymatic recycling of packaging waste as the best EoL, with the final recovery of carbon sources for feedstock fermentation. Thus, the new packaging is environmentally safe(sustainable and improved value from enzymatic recycling) and contributes to Circular Economy(CE). 6. Establish a new value chain including the development of logistics and management of both the brewery and packaging waste. Complying with the industry needs (cost/performance competitive vs. fossil-based non-biodegradable counterparts and legislative compliance),as well as with consumers´ awareness, BioSupPack will have a great impact on EU bioplastics & end users’ sectors, the biorefineries and biotechnology industries and on the society.

The number of successful cyberattacks has grown tremendously over the past years; often it is only a matter of time when a company, government or institute is hacked. As it is almost impossible to prevent attacks and breaches, it is important to have a strategy and personal that react properly after a successful attack. This will decrease the impact on the company and help preserving evidence. Consequently, industry and public sector is investing in incident response teams and incident response plans. While it is an important topic and relies on many technical skills and planning, there is barely any freely accessible material or University courses that offer training in this domain. Most of the current offerings are from industry or institutes, e.g., the SANS Institute.This project aims to form a Digital Forensics Incident Response (DFIR) Alliance who can serve as experts in the domain but more importantly will develop an update to date curricula. First, the alliance will analyze the most needed skills jointly with other experts in the field (e.g., law enforcement agencies) which will result in a skillmap. This skillmap will be shared so that cybersecurity / digital forensic programs can adjust their curriculum accordingly. Second, this project will develop course material -- theoretical as well as hands on -- which will be shared with the public and utilized by the partnering institutions. The resulting material may be as a semester long course or a 1-week intense seminar. In summary, there are three major objectives:- Build a network of DFIR experts that can be utilized when needed (e.g., supporting law enforcement, deliver modules or provide training). - Create a ranked skillmap for DFIR specialists (i.e., identify / rank most needed skills that can also be delivered in the given time frame).- Develop DFIR course materials (theory / hands on) including evaluating and testing of the developed materials.To ensure that the developed curriculum will address the needs of industry and public sector, this project will involve an interdisciplinary consortium that has expertise in various areas of cybersecurity and digital forensics:- University of Liechtenstein (Mobile forensics, hashing and machine learning), - University Albstadt-Sigmaringen (traditional digital forensics, cybercrime and open source intelligence),- Waterford Institute of Technology (small device forensics, network and online investigations, and data mining), and- Brno University of Technology (Network security and forensics).Additionally, some consortium members have / had collaboration with law enforcement agencies and worked jointly on projects. This project will generate impact on higher education and help reducing the shortage of skilled incident response personal. Since we will disseminate the outcomes of this project across our networks, and share our findings and insights on various online platforms, we expect that this project will be taken up by other universities (either as a whole curriculum, or parts of it).

RECOVER is a disruptive RIA proposal built upon the actual needs to solve the contamination of agro-fields with non-biodegradable agro-plastics as well as to improve municipal waste handling by decreasing drastically the packaging fraction going to unsustainable waste management routes. We intend to reach our ambitious objectives applying biotech solutions that will include symbiotic bioprocesses between previously reported high powered microorganisms through microbiotic systems vectored by several insect species. Indeed, one of the main innovations in our proposal is the combination of endogenous and exogenous microorganisms and their inoculation on insects. This will allow achieving higher levels of biodegradation and direct conversion (at the same time) of agri-food plastic wastes in insect by-products such as chitin, that can be converted in chitosan (high value as bioplastics raw materials and other interesting industrial applications due to anti-microbial activity) that will be used in active packaging, enhanced mulching films and biofertilizers applications. RECOVER will help providing novel biotechnological solutions applying microorganisms, enzymes and insects to degrade conventional plastic packaging and agricultural films waste streams but also result in new feedstocks for the bio-based industries. The process will be optimized and performed either ex-situ in composting reactors (preferred route for non-recyclable plastics from municipal solid waste or for agricultural films that can be collected easily) or in-situ in the case of bioremediating soil pollution, by e.g. mulching films, further contributing to the long-term removal of non-biodegradable polymers from the environment. In addition, RECOVER can solve the microplastics pollution at the level of both industrial composting and soil.

PRESERVE aims at boosting the circular use of bio-based packaging. To shift from the current situation (fossil-based, limited recycling), we build on award-winning upcycling strategies from past and on-going projects. We will enhance the performance of primary food packaging via bio-based barrier coatings for bioplastic and paper/board substrates, as well as via eBeam irradiation and microfibrillar-reinforcement. From the biotechnological side, we will leverage the compounding of enzymes in bioplastics to stimulate biodegradation, the enzymatic recovery of functional oligomers and the delamination of multilayer packaging via enzymatic detergents to enable their layer separation and recycling. The processes required to produce at least 10 packaging demonstrators will be upscaled. The enhanced bio-packaging will be validated with different types of food and drinks. Recovered biopolymers will be upcycled in added value applications such as packaging for personal care products and reusable carrier packaging (using textiles and composites). The versatility of our end of life options, materials, flexible and rigid packaging types and compatibility with different processes, ensure that PRESERVE results are relevant to more than 60% of the plastic packaging on the market, which long term substitution potential will be maximised thanks to the participation of several leading companies in the consortium. Our 2030 roadmap will outline the pathways to significantly influence the emergence of bio-based packaging and create jobs and growth in the sector. To widen PRESERVE impact, we will also perform life cycle and safety assessments, user acceptance studies and contribute to standardisation and certification. All in all, by contributing to the EU Plastics Strategy in a circular economy, our PRESERVE circular renewably sourced packaging solutions and derived upcycled applications will not only optimally preserve the food and drink but also our environment and its finite resources