AIM-PACE

Artificial Intelligence-Designed Thermoplastic Materials for Sustainable Packaging and Electronics

Project details

Type of project
Innovation Action - Demonstration
Feedstock origin
Biogenic gaseous carbon
Feedstock type
Industrial waste streams
Project period
1 June 2026 - 31 May 2030
Status
Upcoming
CBE JU Contribution
€ 6 957 584,00
Call identifier
HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025

Summary

Fossil-based plastics are widely used in packaging and healthcare electronics because they provide mechanical robustness, thermal resistance, electrical performance and gas-barrier protection. However, they cause long-term environmental harm. Bio-based plastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a more sustainable alternative, but their wider use is limited by higher costs, lower availability, and performance gaps, highlighting the need for strong European production and supply chains. 

AIM-PACE will address this challenge by developing a new generation of safe-and-sustainable-by-design, bio-based and circular plastics by combining AI, microbial technology, computer modelling, and polymer science. The project will produce PHAs using bacteria, mainly wild-type strains from project partners VTT, CBC, BIOTREND and public repositories, with strain engineering used by VTT and BIOTREND where needed to reach yield and composition targets. 

The project will convert Europe-sourced biogenic CO₂ and consortium-processed organic waste streams into high-value PHA materials for four use cases: printed films for disposable electrocardiogram electrodes; wearable bio-signal monitoring housings;  durable pill boxes; as well as films and trays for industrial electronics packaging. PHA production will progress from robotic high-throughput laboratory screening to pilot reactors, followed by formulation, compounding, film extrusion, thermoforming and injection moulding. 

  • Use AI to evolve existing PHAs into materials exhibiting unprecedented property combinations, such as toughness, biodegradation, processability, barrier, and electrical properties. 
  • Replace fossil-based plastics while minimising the use of multi-materials in packaging and additive-loaded plastics in wearable electronics.  
  • Enable full material circularity by embedding end-of-life strategies, such as material reduction, reuse, recyclability, compostability, and biodegradability, into the polymer design pipeline.  
  • Surpass the sustainability and economic benchmarks of fossil-based polymers by ensuring 100% of processes comply with do-no-significant-harm criteria. 
  • Ensure that all materials retain at least 80% of their performance after three or more mechanical recycling cycles. 
  • Ensure that all materials biodegrade by at least 90% within six months under industrial composting conditions, while reducing the production cost of PHAs by up to 68%. 
  • Disseminate project outcomes and facilitate multi-actor interactions across sectors, value chains, and end users.  
  • Develop four novel, high-performance PHA formulations, approximately 10 tonnes per year each. 

  • Reduce primary energy use by 15%, while saving up to 15% in water consumption. 
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30–50% per kg of material compared with fossil-based polymers. 
  • Replace approximately 5,000 tonnes of fossil-based polymers by 2032. 
  • Achieve 20–50% higher yields and approximately 30% faster production. 
  • Demonstrate PHA application potential across key markets, including flexible healthcare electrodes, injection-moulded packaging, and wearable healthcare device housings. 
  • Create green economy jobs and support European SMEs. 
  • Increase societal acceptance of bio-based materials through real-world demonstrations.

Consortium map

Project coordination

  • TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OY Espoo, Finland

Consortium

  • CO2BIOCLEAN GMBH Eschborn, Germany
  • BIOTREND-INOVACAO E ENGENHARIA EM BIOTECNOLOGIA SA CANTANHEDE, Portugal
  • SABIO SRL LUGO, Italy
  • LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg
  • ZERO EMISSIONS ENGINEERING BV Den Haag, Netherlands
  • PIEP ASSOCIACAO POLO DE INOVACAO EMENGENHARIA DE POLIMEROS Guimaraes, Portugal
  • PLUX - WIRELESS BIOSIGNALS S.A. Lisboa, Portugal
  • UNIVERSITAT BAYREUTH BAYREUTH, Germany
  • PROPAGROUP SPA Rivoli To, Italy
  • stichting global organization for PHA (GO!PHA) Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • FUNDACJA UNIMOS WARSZAWA, Poland
  • NUEVAS TECNOLOGIAS PARA EL DESARROLLO DE PACKAGING Y PRODUCTOS AGROALIMENTARIOS CON COMPONENTE PLASTICA SL Zaragoza, Spain
  • BIO-MI DRUSTVO S OGRANICENOM ODGOVORNOSCU ZA PROIZVODNJU, ISTRAZIVANJEI RAZVOJ MATULJI, Croatia