EFFECTIVE

• Sustainable feedstock production: Validate the production of renewable feedstocks suitable for conversion into bio-based materials.

• Bio-based building block development: Demonstrate innovative and sustainable processes for producing the building blocks needed to manufacture bio-based polyamides and polyesters.

• Recyclable bio-based nylons: Demonstrate the production of bio-based nylons designed for recyclability.

• Biodegradable polyester production: Demonstrate the production of bio-based and biodegradable polyesters.

• Product and application validation: Validate bio-based nylons in fibres for garments and carpets, and in films for primary packaging, as well as bio-based polyesters in films for secondary food packaging.

• Eco-design and end-of-life management: Develop product structures that facilitate polymer recycling, demonstrate nylon recyclability, and explore the recovery of biodegradable plastics through compost and energy production.

• Environmental performance and standardisation: Improve the environmental profile of the targeted biopolymers, define pathways for standardising and certifying the processes and products, and assess the overall environmental and economic impacts.

Results

• Sustainable bio-based materials: Developed bio-based fibres and plastics from renewable feedstocks, reducing reliance on fossil resources and supporting the transition towards a circular economy.

• Innovative conversion processes: Used biotechnological processes to convert sustainable sugars and vegetable oils into bio-based building blocks, which were further processed into high-performance polymers.

• Scale-up and process optimisation: Optimised production processes to reach TRL 7–8 and produced large-scale samples of renewable polymers suitable for industrial applications.

• Validation across applications: Demonstrated the potential of bio-based nylons in textiles, including fabrics, sportswear and carpets, as well as in engineering plastics and packaging.

• Circularity and environmental performance: Implemented end-of-life solutions, including chemical depolymerisation, mechanical recycling and composting, while sustainability assessments confirmed a lower environmental footprint than fossil-based alternatives.

Impacts

• Replicability and wider applications: Demonstrated that the developed bio-based materials could be replicated and validated their potential in additional applications.

• Market uptake of sustainable materials: Advanced the introduction of innovative bio-based materials with improved performance and sustainability to the market.

• Progress in eco-design and recycling: Strengthened eco-design practices through recycling trials, supporting more efficient material recovery and improved end-of-life management.