Biodegradable alternatives offer a promising solution to plastic pollution and waste littering in the open environment in some specific contexts, as they break down naturally under specific environmental conditions. However, it is often reported that many biodegradable plastics do not fully degrade in their receiving environment. MAGICBIOMAT aims at developing a portfolio of circular bio-based materials with programmed biodegradability demonstrated through 2 applications with highly concerning rates of littering: mulching films and paper-based packaging, tested in open environments conditions (soil, fresh water and marine) and different EU climates. Moreover, MAGICBIOMAT will address circularity by improving the durability of the developed bio-based materials for extending lifespan of products, as well as assessing mechanical recycling, remanufacturing, and reuse. To enable programming of biodegradability of the bio-based materials, MAGICBIOMAT will develop a trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered software to guide the design and manufacturing of novel materials according to applications requirements (properties, manufacturing) and end-of-life needs and conditions, exploiting data from the project material development and biodegradation tests, complemented with open access data. This tool will foster adoption of novel bio-based biodegradable materials by the industry. Prevention of waste littering will also be tackled through consumers’ and end users’ perspective, for which behavioural studies will be carried out to develop interactive labelling and behaviour change strategies that foster user-acceptance of the novel biodegradable materials.

Achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 requires the replacement of fossil-based material with bio-based material on a broad basis. Today, ca. 900 kt/y paints and coatings are produced in Europe, with more than 80% still being from fossil resources. Wood and decorative coatings represent a large market, accounting for more than half of that volume. The goal of the PERFECOAT project is to develop and validate a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with significantly more than 25% bio-based components that meet and even surpass the current quality and sustainability standards. Our concept is based on a flexible platform of novel technologies to produce and functionalize new, bio-based bulk coating components and assemble them into new coating formulations. Three major coating markets will be addressed: 1) high-volume ultraviolet (UV)-curable clearcoats, 2) do-it-yourself (DIY) waterborne trim paints, and 3) DIY waterborne wall paints. End-of-life scenarios plus economic, environmental, and social assessments will support the technological development in PERFECOAT, to guarantee a high level of sustainability throughout the value chain. The coating ingredients and final coating blends produced by PERFECOAT will be tested for safety compatibility at different stages of their development. High performance of new advanced bio-based binders, fillers and additives will be systematically developed and validated in coatings, starting from a proof of concept (TRL3) to demonstrator validation (TRL5). PERFECOAT is implemented by a strong, well-balanced, multidisciplinary consortium of experts from 4 universities and research institutes and 8 commercial project partners, including 4 SMEs, in 7 member countries. All partners are committed and highly motivated to jointly increase the competitiveness and sustainability of European industry by bringing innovative materials and methods closer to the marked while fostering new cross-sector interaction.

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 increasingly rapidly growing electric vehicles (EV) market results in higher growth rates in all the LIBs volume categories, from cradle to grave. This trend makes ever more urgent the boosting of battery recycling for several reasons, the most important ones being: i) the preservation of the environment, and ii) the development of a circular economy reducing the demand for virgin materials and the Europe’s dependence from third countries. All these crucial aspects need to be handled through the development of new recycling and re-use concepts, fostering demonstrable effects in terms of efficiency and sustainability. RENOVATE aims at developing and demonstrating new circular economy solutions for the European battery value-chain, targeting the re-use of 100% of in-specification cell fractions (e.g. metallic foil, graphite, electrolyte, fluorinated compounds and cathode active materials) within the battery value chain, fostering a closed-loop circular approach that can reduce battery material waste going to landfill, increase the availability of battery precursors in the European battery eco-system, and demonstrate new added-value business cases for recyclers and battery materials users. All recycled materials will be recovered over all potential streams (pre-customer scraps and End-of-Life products). The ultimate goal is to support the green and digital transformation of the European battery industry to increase its competitiveness and promote its just growth path. Holistic, flexible, and closed-loop processes for the recycling of EoL batteries based on both low and high energy density chemistries will be designed and validated to allow real and easily implementable “net zero carbon” process. A specific aim will also be smart re-integration of the side streams (e.g. waste chemicals/solvents) in the recycling processes and/or in in other industrial activities to minimize the residues coming from batteries production.

The overall objective of project ECOFUNCO is to select, extract-functionalise molecules (proteins, polysaccharides, cutin) from highly available, low valorised biomass such as tomato, legumes, sunflower etc for the development of new bio-based coating materials to be applied on two different substrates (cellulosic and plastic based), with improved performances compared to currently available products and at the same time with more sustainable end of life options. The products to be developed in the project are in particular: Antimicrobial-antioxidant coatings based on chitin nanofibrills, and/or chitosan, functionalised MC, for cellulose tissues (personal care), paper and cardboard (packaging for fresh products like pasta, tableware), woven and nonwoven (sanitary), plastic substrates (bio-polyesters) for active packaging. Cutin based formulations for coatings water repellent (paper cups, service paper etc.), water vapour barrier (packaging) and protective properties (non-food packaging). Protein- based barrier adhesive for multilayer food packaging (bio polyesters based), with sustainable end of life options (composting, recyclability).