Across many huge industries, like construction, marine and agriculture, toxic biocides are used as antifouling agents to prevent micro- and macro-organism damaging surfaces. However such antifouling agents pose large environmental and societal burdens as they pollute the environment, harm ecosystems, are produced by fossil-based chemical synthesis or heavy metal extraction, and are hazardous to the health of workers, consumers and the public. Increased regulations and legislations regarding banning and lowering use of toxic antifouling agents is pushing industries to seek for green alternatives. However, no safe, eco-friendly and cost-competitive antifouling agents are currently available that meet the functional requirements to prevent attachment of organisms…until now. Cysbio have developed a proprietary cell-based manufacturing system for renewable production of sulfated compounds, of interest is the bio-based antifouling agent zosteric acid (ZA-bio). The team have leveraged advanced metabolic and enzyme engineering to optimize yields of ZA-bio, creating a cell factory system that can be upscaled to meet substantial chemical company demands. Cysbio enables a green and safe antifouling agent that is commercially viable for the first time, as ZA-bio is cost-competitive with existing toxic heavy metal and synthetic chemical alternatives. The ZABIO consortium consists a non-profit biological production upscaling manufacturer (Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant) and large multinational chemical and consumer goods company (Henkel) to fulfil the value chain and accelerate market entry of ZA-bio integrated products into the construction industry within two years (Q3 2022). As a result of this project ZA-bio will be commercially available as a chemical compound (sales by Cysbio) and initial contracts with Henkel will facilitate market growth by introduction of ZA-bio based sanitary sealants and façade coatings. The two year project will address EU health and environmental goals.

MultiSMART, Multi-component Soft Materials Advanced Research Training Network, is a Doctoral Network of six Universities, one private nonprofit Research Institute, two large Companies and an SME, involving training, fundamental research and applications in the field of molecular soft materials. These have substantial societal and economic impact, but require innovation to ensure sustainable development. The primary research objectives are defined as (i) the innovation in soft materials through multi-component self-assemblies; (ii) the application of these materials in the formulation of actives with elevated performance in the large-scale industries of personal care and home care, as well as high-added value regenerative therapies. Multi-component systems based on low molecular weight gelators have considerable potential to achieve these goals with the key advantages of programmability and responsiveness. However, their development hinges upon the formation of an inter-disciplinary network with well-trained researchers. MultiSMART proposes: (1) the training of the future generation of researchers; (2) the tight integration between academic projects and private sector needs; (3) a network-wide, seamless multidisciplinary, international and inter-sectoral training that is not available at any one institution. MultiSMART will be formed around 9 hired researchers who will have the opportunity to become scientists employable in both the industrial and academic sectors. In an integrated approach, they will be trained to bridge the gap between chemistry, physics, biology and formulation technology, as well as to acquire transferable skills through their research and specifically designed network-wide schools and workshops. The participation of three industrial participants in research and training programmes will guarantee extensive inter-sectoral experience for the trainees and maximise the impact of the network.

The aeronautic industry is constantly striving to reduce the aircraft operating costs, increase their payload and reduce the environmental impact during the whole life of the product. Metallurgy has played a key role in the development of aviation. With the use of light alloys, as aluminium and magnesium, new applications have been found to apply these to fastly improve existing designs. The disadvantage of using these materials is that they are particularly susceptible to corrosion. Environmental degradation is a limiting factor for magnesium–aluminium (Mg–Al) alloys in outdoor applications. An effective way to protect alloys from fast degradation or reduce to the degradation rate is surface treatment. Hexavalent chromium has served as the primary means of corrosion protection in the aircraft industry since 1936 and allowed for the distinctive bare-metal finishes of the World War II era. Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen, with the major route of exposure through inhalation of vapours or dust. The chromates are among the current chemicals for which industrial users must find substitutes, or request authorisation from EU regulators to continue their use. In the case of chromium trioxide and the acids, the application deadline is March 2016 and the “sunset” date for the substances is September 2017. Therefore, there is an urgent need facing the aerospace industry to replace the conventional corrosion inhibitor, hexavalent chromium. Regulatory and market drivers are motivating a global effort in the aerospace industry to replace hexavalent chromium-containing materials with hexavalent chromium-free alternatives for various applications. ALMAGIC project is focused on solving the aforementioned problematic by validating the developed innovative alternatives to chromium(VI) coatings for aluminium and magnesium alloys. ALMAGIC will ensure the developed solutions comply with the REACH regulations, while all quality standards are met.

The GreenSolRes project demonstrates the levulinic acid (LVA) value chain of lignocellulosic feedstocks to high-value products in a 3-step approach on TRL 6. First, a demonstration plant in Biorefinery of RWTH Aachen will be designed and build for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to the platform chemical levulinic acid. Levulinic acid hydrolysate separation enables more efficient and purer levulinic acid production. In a 2nd step the versatile platform chemical levulinic acid is hydrogenated to 2-methyltetrathydrofuran (2-MTHF), gamma-valerolactone (GVL) and 1-methyl-1,4-butanediol (MeBDO) in a direct process developed by RWTH Aachen. These can be produced in the same reactor with a single catalyst by tuning the process conditions. In parallel, BASF will investigate the conversion of LVA esters to MeBDO and GVL. Third, the application of the products as solvents is validated in adhesives and the pharma sector as substitute of their less sustainable C4-analogues. Additionally, HENKEL studies the development of respective new polymers with improved properties. The basic engineering of first commercial plants for these steps supports rapid upscaling and exploitation after the project. This will release these products from the niche markets they are confined to due to ineffective existing production routes. At competitive prices compared to their petrochemical C4-counterparts these chemicals and related products will boost the bio-based market as they have a high greenhouse gas emission avoidance of at least 70% and an additional value to society via better health & safety properties. The whole value chain from e.g. forestry residues to consumer products is assessed for environmental sustainability, risks and health & safety to support business case development and market implementation.

EU society needs new sustainable biobased feedstock in order to meet the growing population needs and to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. In terms of potential market requirements in EU, the food and fuel demand is mainly covered by foreign import, achieving the 68% of total proteins supply. Aquatic feedstock can be a solution to these necessities, however, European algae feedstock market is still facing immature production technologies, and which are not specifically designed for algae biorefinery. The overall objective of BIOSEA is the development and validation of innovative, competitive and cost-effective upstream and downstream processes for the cultivation of 2 microalgae (Spirulina platensis and Isochrysis galbana), and 2 macroalgae (Ulva intestinalis and Saccharina latissima) to produce and extract at least 6 high value active principles at low cost (up to 55% less than with current processes) to be used in food, feed and cosmetic/personal care as high-added value products. For achieving this objective, BIOSEA consortium consists of specialists in specific area/s or discipline/s involved in the project (IGV, AT SEA and CTAQUA in Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; VITO and FEYECON in Chemical Science and Engineering; CNTA, BIOPOLIS, DIBAQ, SORIA NATURAL and CPCFEED in Food/Feed Technology; VLCI and HENKEL in Cosmetic Science; AITEX in Materials Science and TABU in Environmental Science). The total budget of BIOSEA is up to €4,633,447, so it is totally aligned with the range considered in the topic. It can be added that the industrial contribution will be up to €2,611,321, representing a percentage of 44% of the total budget and indicating the strong weight and involvement of the industry in the proposal.