DEEP PURPLE
CONVERSION OF DILUTED MIXED URBAN BIO-WASTES INTO SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS IN FLEXIBLE PURPLE PHOTOBIOREFINERIES
Project details
- Type of project
- Innovation Action - Demonstration
- Project focus
- Packaging
- Feedstock origin
- Organic waste
- Feedstock type
- Organic fraction of municipal solid waste
- Project period
- 1 May 2019 - 30 April 2024
- Status
- Completed
- CBE JU Contribution
- € 6 983 049,99
- Call identifier
- H2020-BBI-JTI-2018
Summary
The EU generates almost 140 million tonnes of urban organic waste every year. Around 75 % of this is incinerated or landfilled and has a major environmental impact. It is also a lost opportunity as much of this waste has the potential to be recycled. The main reason why the various waste streams are not recycled is that current methods of valorisation have low performance, high carbon footprint, and most nutrients are dissipated. The waste streams are also highly heterogeneous and diluted, meaning that efforts to separate them at source are difficult.
To address this challenge and recover the potential from these urban waste streams, the DEEP PURPLE project demonstrated a method to transform diluted urban organic waste, including mixed waste streams, the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, wastewater and sewage sludge into a sustainable source of feedstock for various bio-based industries, such as plastics, construction, fertilisers, and personal care and cosmetics.
DEEP PURPLE has implemented a novel multi-platform biorefinery concept (using biomass, cellulose, and biogas as sources) to replace current harmful to the environment practices.
The overall objective of DEEP PURPLE was to develop and demonstrate the viability of the concept of a versatile, integrated, and flexible multi-platform biorefinery capable of extracting and recovering high-added-value compounds from urban waste streams.
The specific objectives were:
- Reduce the amount of waste currently going for incineration or landfill by recycling and reusing almost 60 % of the primary sludge and nearly 85 % of the secondary sludge produced at a wastewater treatment plant.
- Converting biogas into high-added value products such as ectoine.
- Develop a range of bio-based products with improved environmental performance: slow-release fertilisers, polyesters for film applications, packaging applications, cosmetics, and a ‘self-healing’ additive for concrete.
- The demonstration-size photobioreactors were built and operated successfully.
- Pretreatment, conversion, downstream and validation goals were achieved.
- For downstream, the project obtained 95% pure PHA, created bio-based polyesters similar to commercial ones, and produced self-healing concrete with bacterial spores and calcium carbonate, among others.
- 150 kg of biomass were transformed into organic fertiliser and tested on three agricultural sites in France, Italy and Spain.
- Production of ectoine from biogas were reduced by 40% thanks to high efficiency of the process.
- DEEP PURPLE transformed the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste in a cascade-approach. In the first stage, the waste is transformed into a liquid hydrolysate with a hydrolysis efficiency of 60%, which is much higher than the predicted 35%.
- Facilitated new interconnections between companies and other sectors, leading to the creation of new value chains linking waste management companies with those in the packaging, construction, fertilisers, and cosmetics industries.
- DEEP PURPLE technologies achieved a recycle and reuse efficiency of 61.5% of the primary sludge and 78.5% of the secondary sludge, which is higher than the expected value of 58.2%.
- Reduced the amount of landfilled organic waste by 76% and 70% compared to the current state-of-the-art solutions.
Consortium map
Project coordination
- FCC AQUALIA SA Madrid, Spain
Consortium
- NOVAMONT SPA Novara, Italy
- ASOCIACION ESPANOLA DE NORMALIZACION Madrid, Spain
- INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DEL EMBALAJE, TRANSPORTE Y LOGISTICA Paterna, Spain
- UNIVERSIDAD DE VALLADOLID VALLADOLID, Spain
- ACTIVATEC LTD COVENTRY, United Kingdom
- NATUREPLAST Mondeville, France
- MATER-BIOTECH SPA Novara No, Italy
- AGRO INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL Saint-Malo, France
- SEVEROMORAVSKE VODOVODY A KANALIZACE OSTRAVA AS Ostrava, Czechia
- HIDROTEC TECNOLOGIA DEL AGUA SL Sevilla, Spain
- FUNDACION UNIVERSIDAD DE VALLADOLID Valladolid, Spain
- BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDON Uxbridge, United Kingdom
- UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS Mostoles, Spain
- RNB, S.L La Pobla De Vallbona, Spain
- FCC MEDIO AMBIENTE SAU Madrid, Spain
- INVESTORNET-GATE2GROWTH APS Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
- ALCHEMIA-NOVA RESEARCH & INNOVATION GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH Wien, Austria
Former member
- FOMENTO DE CONSTRUCCIONES Y CONTRATAS SA Barcelona, Spain
