H2020Индивидуална стипендия2022–2024

REWIND · ENZYMATIC RECYCLING OF WASTE COOKING OILS FOR THE PLASTIC INDUSTRY

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2022-04-01 → 2024-03-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 171 473 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Използването на отработени растителни масла за производство на биопластмаси чрез ензимни процеси е в центъра на работата. Това помага за намаляване на експлоатацията на почвите и предлага устойчива алтернатива на традиционните суровини.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

ENZYMATIC RECYCLING OF WASTE COOKING OILS FOR THE PLASTIC INDUSTRY

Plastics are fundamental in our everyday life due to their extreme versatility. They find application in a wide range of fields (e.g. packaging, transport, electronics, construction, agriculture). The term bio-based plastics describes organic polymers that are synthetically or semi-synthetically produced from biomass. Globally, only 1% of the 300 Mton/y of produced plastics comes from renewable resources. The market of bio-based plastics is increasing and it is estimated that in 2030 40% of the entire plastic production will be covered by bio-based plastics. Although, common bio-based plastics are thought to be biodegradable, recent studies on industrial and domestic compostability have shown differences in the biodegradation of specific bioplastics, such as Polylactic acid (PLA). Buio-based plastics are commonly produced from virgin resources, that could increase the overexploitation of soils and the loss of biodiversity. The use of renewable resources derived from by-products and waste could be of great interest for the society in order to improve the presence of sustainable alternatives that could reduce the need for virgin resources. According to circular economy, it is necessary to valorize waste products to encourage their further potential, instead of using them for bioenergy and biofuels. Use of renewable materials from waste can improve the sustainability of bio-based plastics. Vegetable oils, and in particular WCO, represent a promising feedstock for sustainable chemicals and polymeric structures due to their high availability and biodegradability. Cooking oils contain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the form of triglycerides. After their end-of-life, WCO are either disposed of or transformed into biofuel through physical and or chemical approaches, such as esterification and hydroprocessing. Enzymes possess high specificity and act at milder conditions compared to commonly used metal catalysts. Enzymatic transformation, in one-pot reactions, can reduce the use of harsh chemicals and the production of by-products, which means less need for further purification. The REWIND project have the following objectives: • O1: Multistep biocatalytic synthesis of hydroxy fatty acids and their oligomers and polymers. • O2: Chemical, physical, mechanical and biological characterization of the oligomers and polymers. • O3: Sustainability assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of the product’s life compared to that of chemically produced polymers and biodiesel production.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

The development of synthetic plastics has changed our world and currently several types of plastics are found in different applications. Most of the plastics comes from fossil resources and they are non-biodegradable materials causing a serious threat for the environment. Bioplastics are mostly produced from food resources which are not sustainable. For these reasons, the solution can be the use of waste. REWIND aims at the valorization of waste products through their enzymatic transformation following a circular economy approach. The production of monomers and polymers will be capitalized through the test of different recombinantly produced enzymes. The enzymatic transformations will be tested using single enzymes or a cocktail of biocatalysts (either free or immobilized) to identify the potential of the biocatalytic cascade. The use of enzymes, and their further engineering, will reduce the utilization of harsh reaction conditions and chemicals, such as organic solvents and metal catalysts. The produced bioplastics will be tested in terms of thermal and mechanical properties. In order to test their sustainability and impact on the environment, degradation tests in the presence of different environmental conditions (pH, Temperature and pressure) and with biological factors (enzymes and microorganisms) will be assayed. Sustainability assessment of the process and the products’ life will identify the steps that could be improved to reduce the impact. The researcher, who already possesses sound knowledge and skills in biocatalysis, will gain more knowledge in polymer chemistry and material characterization through the attendance of hand-on courses and collaborations with polymer chemists. Entrepreneurship and patent writing courses will increase the innovative mindset of the researcher for a better society. The results of the project will be disseminated both in the academic and non-academic sectors. The researcher will engage public communication.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI BARI ALDO MORO · BariКоординаторИталия