Current measures in healthcare systems are insufficient to reach the EU Green Deal goals. The social, economic and clinical consequences are significant. Reasons that current initiatives fall short include lack of awareness as to the problem, or potential solutions. There is complexity as to what process to choose, the low cost, the low carbon, the one that provides better care or the one which has the better social impact. The current system has insufficient investment in sustainable education, policy or research. Solutions work well in limited areas but are inefficient as a model for true systemic change. There is no agreed system of environmental foot printing in the health system and few partnerships with industry and patients to develop a truly sustainable system. Kidney care is a suited test case with its large resource footprint and well-defined care pathways. KitNewCare’s consortium will solve the problem with leading experts in kidney care, life cycle assessment methodology, education, dissemination and communication, health economics, and data management. KitNewCare will perform an EU-wide mapping of the sustainability landscape to reveal the hotspots across different clinical centres in each impact area. To locate solutions Quality Improvement Cycles will be utilised to analyse clinical pathways and industry innovations. KitNewCare will co-develop and pilot sustainable tools (such as the purposefully developed actionable dashboard, based on the 4-factor LCA model, which will monitor and benchmark the 4 different outcomes) innovative solutions, training, guidelines and recommendations as a proof of concept which can then be applied to the healthcare system; Our work will be informed by a stakeholder interaction and a Patient and Public Involvement programme to ensure proper design, uptake, dissemination and exploitation. This will enable decision makers and healthcare providers to reduce pollution, carbon emissions, and waste.

The ability to selectively extract compounds from waters will transform a multitude of applications, ranging from high-value compound isolation in industrial bioprocesses to removal of pollutants from the environment. However, current filtration technologies are reliant on physicochemical separation strategies requiring high pressure/energy inputs and cannot discriminate specific molecules. BIOMEM will develop novel biomimetic membranes harnessing the unique selectivity of biological transport proteins to facilitate the extraction of single compounds with exquisite specificity. Our concept is to use the unique antiport characteristics of secondary active transport proteins, to move molecules, even at low concentrations, across a polymer membrane against their concentration gradient, deriving energy from the transport of another readily available ion down its own concentration gradient. A novel group of bifunctional polymers will be used to extract membrane proteins, together with their associated lipids, into nanoscale discs. These will then be embedded into polymer membranes which are otherwise impermeable to create membranes that are completely selective for the compound of interest. These bio-inspired membranes will be characterised to understand organisation and function of the membrane, to allow design and optimisation for custom compounds. The produced membranes will be tested for functionality in a proof-of-concept experiment to extract complex high-value oligosaccharides from bulk biomass and phosphate from wastewaters. While initially focussing on those two applications, the separation technology developed will evidence the potential for “plug and play”, bespoke, selective membranes capable of transporting specific molecules through existing or bio-engineered transporters. The developed membranes will be fully scalable and operate at rates comparable to state-of-the-art nanofiltration devices, while simultaneously requiring around 50-75% less energy.

In the vaccine industry, downstream processing is of extreme importance. Prophylactic vaccines aim at protecting healthy people, so any contaminant has to be discarded with the most drastic measures. Such « negative » approach comes at the expense of the recovery of product : yields are poor, thereby inducing a high product cost. Processes are also complex, since they rely on multiple eliminations rather than on recovery of the unique product of interest. Technically, this is mostly due to the lack of specific capture systems that would allow direct, « positive » separation of the vaccine from its environment.Vaccines know no borders. For developing countries, the pressure on costs is even more acute, and local production is a way to try to reach the 1$ per dose target. In this context, water sustainability is a major issue, as it is a most sensitive ingredient in bioproduction. DiViNe will tackle theses cost and environmental issues with technological answers. The partners will combine two major Nano/biotechnology innovations to develop an integrated purification platform amenable to the different natures of vaccines : glycoconjugates, protein antigens and enveloped viruses. They will implement Nanofitins (novel affinity capture ligands) and Aquaporin-based membranes (energy-saving nano-biomimetics used in the cleantech industry), for a « positive » purification approach. High yields are expected (data from antibody purification with Nanofitins), at affordable cost of goods and with a sustainable approach of water recycling. Novartis Vaccines brings to the Consortium a broad range of targets, and identical strategies can be applied for biopharmaceuticals in general. The development custom affinity capture processes as a sustainable platform is therefore economically relevant, in a very large market. Beyond the technical partnership, the project is a first run for the partners to structure the platform as a commercial offer for downstream processing of biologics.

RESURGENCE addresses industrial circular water systems in a wide perspective which embraces efficient technologies for water circularity, energy and feedstock recovery, with the aim of contribute to EU climate neutrality, circularity, and competitiveness. RESURGENCE will work in 4 case studies that include 3 industrial sectors – Pulp&Paper, Chemical and Steel – as well as a 4th case to explore the synergies between urban water treatment and industries. Innovative solutions will be tested for water treatment – membranes, electrochemical technologies, adsorbents, advanced oxidation processes and hybrid biological systems – exploring also the recovery of energy (heat, electricity, biogas, H2) and feedstocks ( bioactive fenols, biopolymers, cellulose, lignin, latex, acrylic polymers, phosphate & nitrogen, biochar, MOFs and metals, including Critical Raw Materials). Digital tools will be also developed and applied, including models for energy, water and risk management, physical and software sensors for data acquisition, digital twins, and decision-support tools enabling optimal water treatment technology set-up and day-to-day operation with seized flexibility opportunities on smart grids. The project will be guided by a comprehensive sustainability and economic assessment to support by evidence the gains of these technologies, togheter with H&S analysis. Local effects multiplication of case studies is pursued by promoting seeds of future hubs for circularity. A comprehensive consortium of 20 partners from 11 countries covering the whole geographical scope of the EU, and with international cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan will work together to achieve significant outcomes and produce long-term impact.

The development of functional bioinspired polymer membranes is challenging due to the delicate balance needed for the membrane protein assembly, stability and function, which relies on specific and heterogeneous lipid environments. BIOMEM-Hop on aims to identify the precise lipid composition in newly developed biomimetic membranes required to maintain the structural integrity and activity of target transport proteins. BIOMEM-Hop on will implement an advanced high throughput (Epi)Lipidomics platform in synergy with bifunctional polymers testing, membrane kinetics, and transport activity assessments. This approach will significantly enhance the identification of specific lipid domains required for the stability and function of target transport proteins in protein-lipid domains and in biomimetic membranes. It will also shed light on how key lipids interact with bifunctional polymers, guiding the rational selection of polymers for the efficient extraction of active transport proteins along with their associated lipids. In addition, BIOMEM-Hop on aims to guarantee the uptake of its outcomes by the scientific community, stakeholders, policy makers and citizens to significantly increase the knowledge of the environmental, economic and societal benefits of this cost-effective, low-energy separation technique, as well as to explore additional opportunities in biomedicine and human healthcare. This will be achieved through communication, dissemination and exploitation of the research outputs. BIOMEM-Hop on is implemented by a strong consortium with expertise in polymer testing, transport protein stability and activity, membrane organization, kinetics and transport, and lipid analysis, laying the groundwork to understand and address the specific lipid composition required both for membrane protein activity and functional stability.