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Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics
Newsletter
Conferences
December 2021
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Meet our partners
NTUA
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Contents
Conferences and publications
BIOTRANS 2021
Mikrobiokosmos
EMEC21
MICROBIOTEC2021
Latest Publications
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9th International Conference of MIKROBIOKOSMOS was held in Athens from 16 to 18 December 2021. The aim of the
conference was to bring together a multidisciplinary audience of leading academic scientists, researchers and research
scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results in the field of Microbiology. The theme of the
conference was “Beneficial microbes at the heart of Mikrobiokosmos”. Partners from IMGGE and TUS
(former AIT) took part
in this conference with posters: “Searching for novel microorganisms and enzymes for polyurethane degradation” and “Effect
of small organic acids on bacterial cellulose yield”.
George Taxeidis from NTUA
held an oral presentation titled:
“The potential of novel fungal
isolates for the degradation of
non-biodegradable synthetic
polymers”.
21st European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry (EMEC21) was held on November 30 – December 3, 2021 in Novi Sad,
Serbia. This international meeting of researchers from all over the world was held at the Matica Srpska, one of the most
important academic institution in Serbia. This conference covered a broad range of topics within the field of environmental
chemistry, and interdisciplinary presentations with 150 posters and presentations and presenters from 15 different countries.
Our partners from NTUA
were awarded for the best poster presentation “Discovery of novel polyesterases capable of
degrading a variety of synthetic polyesters”.
Dr. Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic,
our partner from IMGGE, held a
Section Lecture titled “Progressing
Plastics Circularity:
MechanoBiocatalytic Approaches
for Waste Plastic (Re)valorization
(Overview and progress of
BioICEP H2020 project)”.
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Publications
In the previous six months, our partners had 11 publications
covering various aspects, from pretreatment to materials
upcycling:
Antimicrobial Active Bioplastics Using Triangular Silver
Nanoplate Integrated Polycaprolactone and Polylactic
Acid Films; Materials, 10.3390/ma14051132
Progressing Plastics Circularity: A Review of Mechano-
Biocatalytic Approaches for Waste Plastic
(Re)valorization; Frontiers in Bioiengineering and
Biotechnology, 10.3389/fbioe.2021.696040/full
Polyhydroxyalkanoate/Antifungal Polyene Formulations
with Monomeric Hydroxyalkanoic Acids for Improved
Antifungal Efficiency; Antibiotics,
10.3390/antibiotics10060737
Macro and Micro Routes to High Performance
Bioplastics: Bioplastic Biodegradability and Mechanical
and Barrier Properties; Polymers,
10.3390/polym13132155
Study of the influence of advanced treatment processes
on the surface properties of polylactic acid for a bio-
based circular economy for plastics; Ultrasonics
Sonochemistry, 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105627
Novel Transaminase and Laccase from Streptomyces
spp. Using Combined Identification Approaches;
Catalysis, 10.3390/catal11080919
Composite Films of Thermoplastic Starch and CaCl2
Extracted from Eggshells for Extending Food Shelf-Life;
Polysaccharides, 10.3390/polysaccharides2030041
Upcycling Biodegradable PVA/Starch Film to a Bacterial
Biopigment and Biopolymer; Polymers,
10.3390/polym13213692
Fast, High Monomer Yield from Post-consumer
Polyethylene Terephthalate via Combined Microwave
and Deep Eutectic Solvent Hydrolytic Depolymerization;
ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,
10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07159
Computational redesign of a PETase for plastic
biodegradation under ambient condition by the GRAPE
strategy; ACS Catalysis, 10.1021/acscatal.0c0512
Potential one-step strategy for PET degradation and PHB
biosynthesis through co-cultivation of two engineered
microorganisms; Engineering Microbiology,
10.1016/j.engmic.2021.100003
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EUROPEAN RESEARCHERS’ NIGHT 2021
The European Researchers' Night is a Europe-wide public event, which displays the diversity of science and
its impact on citizens' daily lives in fun, inspiring ways! The 2021 edition took place on 24 September in 29
countries.
IMGGE-BioICEP team held on-line webinar and the
discussion regarding the progress of the project.
IBET team held in-loco activities at the National
Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon,
Portugal. From wastes to biopolymers: do you know
that bacteria produce plastic? IBET explained how
biopolymers are produced and showed different
examples of biopolymers and their applications.
There were also hands-on activities to make
biopolymer spheres, emulsions, etc.
DISSEMINATION ACTIONS
Our colleague Jasmina Nikodinovic-
Runic, from the Institute of Molecular
Genetics and Genetic Engineering
(IMGGE), participated in the 1
st
edition
of the International Seminar on
Plastics Recycling organized by
AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology
Centre.
In this seminar, we addressed the current challenges and
opportunities relating to the management and recycling of
plastic wastes, as well as raised awareness of all the
initiatives that have been put in motion on an international
level to advance the marked objectives at a European level.
Jasmina introduced the BioICEP project with the paper
Enzymatic approaches in the treatment of plastic waste to
more than 200 experts from the entire recycling industry
chain.