ELLIPSE

The main goal of ELLIPSE is to turn organic waste from the paper and slaughterhouse industries into PHAs for use in packaging and agriculture. To this end it aims to: 

• apply effective pre-treatments to minimise the presence of impurities in paper and slaughterhouse waste; 

• increase production, during fermentation of the waste, of volatile fatty acids – a carbon source for PHA production; 

• obtain PHAs with different properties depending on their intended use; 

• demonstrate the performance of PHA-based compounds by producing prototypes of mulching film, fertiliser and bottles and sachets for personal care products; 

• validate recycling processes to recover monomers that will be reincorporated into the PHA production process; 

• recover nitrogen and phosphorous for use in bio-based fertilisers; 

• demonstrate the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of the new compounds and products and the safety of the processes; 

• ensure public acceptance and market uptake of the new solutions. 

ELLIPSE is expected to generate knowledge and technologies for building new bio-based value chains to replace fossil-based product streams. It will do this by: 

• providing an innovative solution for the management of types of waste generated in huge quantities in the EU using an option – production of compounds for use in plastics and fertilisers – that, according to the waste hierarchy, is preferable to the current main management methods for these types of waste: composting, energy production, disposal in landfill; 

• increasing processing of bio-waste and waste from bio-based products – within 10 years, it is expected that 50 000 tonnes of paper and pulp sludge, 20 000 tonnes of slaughterhouse waste, 3 600 tonnes of dairy industry sludge and 1 500 tonnes of glycerol a year will be processed thanks to ELLIPSE; 

• expanding opportunities for the use of bio-waste across all sectors by bringing together all actors involved in the use of waste from the slaughterhouse and paper industries; 

• fostering demand for bio-based products through a campaign aimed at informing and educating the general public and influencing consumer trends.