Project
About the project
The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) is a pan European-Chinese collaboration formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. Different mixed plastic pollution environments are represented, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations.
A number of innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting mixed plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable. Our approach is The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) consortium is a pan European-Chinese collaborative formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. The countries have been selected to represent different mixed plastic pollution environments, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations. Three innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable.
Our approach is a triple-action depolymerisation system where plastic waste will be broken down in three consecutive processes:
- Mechano-biochemical disintegration processes, including a new proprietary sonic-green-chemical technology to reduce the polymer molecular weight of the base polymer to make it amenable to biodegradation;
- Biocatalytic digestion, with enzymes enhanced through a range of innovative techniques including accelerated screening through novel fluorescent sensor and directed evolution;
- Microbial consortia developed from best in class single microbial strains, which combined leads to highly efficient degradation of mixed plastic waste streams. The outputs from this degradation process will be used as building blocks for new polymers or other bioproducts to enable a new plastic waste-based circular economy.
Goals
The project’s overall objective is to demonstrate a seamless sustainable route to a circular economy for plastics by developing an advanced energy, carbon, and cost-efficient waste plastic biotransformation into high market demand bioproducts and bioplastics. The consortium brings together leading experts from industry and academia contributing a set of purpose-designed and ground-breaking technologies in order to achieve the following specific objectives:
1. Development of accelerated high-efficiency biodegradation incorporating microorganism communities expressing at least three novel and improved enzymatic activities enabling the degradation of mixtures of plastics.
2. Sustainable degradation of at least 20% of mixed plastics.
3. Bioprocessed high value bioproducts including equivalent bioplastics valorising mixed plastic waste.
4. Sustainable prototype system plan, paving the way to bring the developed solution to the market, fulfilling current needs, future expectations, and delivering a seamless bio-innovative route for a circular economy for plastics.
Results
Consortium
AVECOM
Industrieweb 122P Gent-Wondelgem (Postcode 9032) Belgium
Beijing Institute of Technology
5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing Postcode: 100081
IMCAS
NO.1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101
MicroLife Solutions B.V.
Science Park 406 Amsterdam (Postcode 1098 XH) Netherlands
Shandong University
27 Shanda Nanlu, Jinan, Shandong, P.R.China 250100
Gallery
BioICEP at media
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El proyecto BioICEP acelera la degradación del plástico para convertirlo en biopolímeros
09/07/2020 -
BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
09/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
08/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
08/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
08/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
08/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
07/07/2020 -
BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros y bioproductos
07/07/2020 -
'BioICEP' acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
07/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP busca acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional
07/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP desarrolla alternativas al plástico
07/07/2020 -
UN PROCESO DE TRIPLE ACCIÓN PARA ACELERAR LA DEGRADACIÓN DEL PLÁSTICO Y CONVERTIRLO EN BIOPOLÍMEROS
07/07/2020 -
Proyecto para acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional y convertirlo en biopolímeros
07/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
07/07/2020 -
Aimplas acelera la degradación del plástico y lo convierte en biopolímeros en BioICEP
06/07/2020 -
Un proceso convierte el plástico en biopolímero como sustituto biodegradable
06/07/2020 -
Aimplas y la creación de alternativas naturales al plástico
06/07/2020 -
BioICEP, un proyecto para acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional
06/07/2020 -
Un proceso convierte el plástico en biopolímero como sustituto biodegradable
06/07/2020 -
Acelerando la degradación del plástico tradicional para su conversión en biopolímeros
06/07/2020 -
Acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional y convertirlo en biopolímeros
06/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
06/07/2020 -
Aimplas y la creación de alternativas naturales al plástico
06/07/2020 -
BioICEP, un proyecto para acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional
06/07/2020 -
BioICEP, un proyecto para acelerar la degradación del plástico tradicional
06/07/2020 -
La industria química acelera la degradación de plásticos para convertirlo en biopolímeros
06/07/2020 -
El proyecto BioICEP acelerará la degradación del plástico tradicional y lo convertirá en biopolímeros
06/07/2020 -
A European project to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment
30/01/2020 -
Athlone Institute of Technology leads global effort to tackle plastic pollution and develop next-generation materials
28/01/2020 -
AIT Leads Global Effort to Tackle Plastic Pollution and Develop Next Generation Materials
27/01/2020 -
Tipperary woman central to global effort to tackle plastic pollution
23/01/2020 -
Athlone Institute of Technology, plastic pollution crisis, Dr Margaret Brennan Fournet, Trinity College Dublin.
23/01/2020 -
Athlone Institute of Technology, plastic pollution crisis, Dr Margaret Brennan Fournet.
23/01/2020 -
BioICEP project to develop next generation materials kicks off
14/01/2020 -
From waste plastics to bioplastics with the help of microorganisms
14/11/2019
Related projects
MIXed plastics biodegradation and UPcycling using microbial communities
Description: Plastics are an important material in our economy, but there are serious downsides for the environment and our health. Plastic adversely affects all ecosystems and microplastics are of particular concern to our health. Increasing plastic waste recycling is a top priority in Europe’s transition towards a circular economy. The EU-funded MIX-UP project is addressing the market needs for new sustainable routes to valorise plastics waste streams. As such, plastic mixtures with five of the top six fossil-based recalcitrant plastics (PP, PE, PUR, PET and PS) and biodegradable plastics such as PLA and PHA, will be used as feedstock for microbial transformations. Not only will this increase the recycling quota, it will add value to poorly recycled plastic waste streams.
Objetive: The continuing demand for plastic products, the lack of appropriate recycling and the ubiquitous pollution of the environment with plastic waste pose a global challenge. An ambitious vision and considerable efforts are required to change the traditional value chain of plastics to a sustainable one, based on biodegradable plastics.
In MIX-UP, plastic mixtures with five of the top six fossil-based recalcitrant plastics (PP, PE, PUR, PET, and PS), along with upcoming biodegradable plastics such as PLA and PHA, will be used as feedstock for microbial transformations, thereby generating a workflow that increases the recycling quota and adds value to poorly recycled plastics waste streams. Successive controlled enzymatic and microbial degradation of mechanically pre-treated plastics waste will be combined with subsequent microbial conversion to value-added chemicals and polymers by mixed cultures. We will optimize known plastics-degrading enzymes for high specific binding capacities, stability, and catalytic efficacy towards a broad spectrum of plastics polymers under high salt and temperature conditions by integrated protein engineering, and also isolate novel enzymes with activities on recalcitrant polymers. MIX-UP will also optimize the production of enzymes and formulate enzyme cocktails tailored to specific waste streams. Implementation of these enzymes, both in vitro and in vivo, enables stable self-sustaining microbiomes to convert the released plastic monomers selectively into at least six value-added products, key building blocks, and biomass. Any remaining material recalcitrant to enzymatic activity will be recirculated into the process after a physico-chemical treatment.
The Chinese-European MIX-UP is a multidisciplinary and industry-driven consortium that addresses the market need for novel sustainable routes to valorise plastics waste streams. MIX-UP realises a circular (bio)-economy and could be a viable alternative for mechanical and chemical recycling.
http://www.mix-up.eu
