A European consortium is launching a large-scale project to demonstrate that organic food waste can serve as a raw material for high-quality plastics. Within the CIRCLE project, seventeen partners are working on an industrial biorefinery that converts food residue streams into lactic acid and polylactic acid PLA.
The project has a budget of approximately 27 million euros and is supported by a European innovation program for the biobased industry. Over the four-year duration, the focus is on the step from laboratory to industrial scale.
From waste stream to chemical building block
The core of CIRCLE is the realization of an integrated chain in which variable organic waste is processed into bio-based chemicals. An important intermediate step is the production of lactic acid, which serves as the basis for PLA. This bioplastic is used in packaging, the automotive sector, and cosmetics, among others.
The consortium unites the entire value chain, from waste processors and technology developers to end users. As a result, the project focuses not only on technological feasibility but also on the application and market acceptance of the materials.
Scaling up to commercial quality
The production of PLA from food waste has previously been demonstrated on a laboratory scale. The next step is scaling up to industrial volumes.
One of the partners is Emirates Biotech. Within the consortium, this company is responsible for the polymerization of lactic acid into commercial-grade PLA. The goal is to develop bioplastics that can be used within existing industrial production processes.
Scalability as the central challenge
The CIRCLE project aligns with broader developments in which organic waste streams are used as raw materials for the chemical industry. By utilizing food waste, dependence on fossil raw materials can be reduced.
At the same time, the emphasis lies on the question of whether these routes are economically and technically scalable. The transition from demonstration projects to industrial application is considered a major challenge within the bioeconomy.
Source: emiratesbiotech
Photo: Eva Bronzini, Pexels.com
