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Programme:: Horizon 2020 - Industrial Leadership - Research & Innovation Action (RIA)

Project partners: Centro Tecnológico de Calzado y del Plástico, Avenida de Europa 4-5 Parque Industrial "Las Salinas", 30840 Alhama de Murcia, Spain.
Contact person: Verónica Cánovas Hernández, PhD;
Function of the Project Partner: Sub-Koordinator

Staff: Daffert Christina, Project Staff; Zerobin Antonia Josefine, Project Staff

BOKU Research Units: Department of Nanobiotechnology (DNBT); Institute for Environmental Biotechnology

Funded by: Commission of the European Communities, Rue de la Loi, Brussels, European Union

Abstract: The upPE-T project aims upcycling recalcitrant oil-based plastics by bioconversion into biodegradable bioplastic for food and drink packaging production.
Plastic packaging, which make up nearly 60% of the total plastic waste in Europe, is highly problematic from a waste management- and environmental- point of view due to their durability and resistance to degradation. Polyethylene (PE) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are the leading plastic use in food and drink packaging (43% PE and 19% PET). The sustainable management of this plastic waste has become a very challenging problem for global society.
In upPE-T we will include sustainable strategies as an alternative for plastic chemical degradation. The consortium will improve PE and PET depolymerization through enzymatic engineering to positively impact food and drink packaging recycling rate and achieving the European Union expected impact. In upPE-T we will turn PE and PET waste streams via enzymatic degradation and microbial assimilation into raw material for the production of biodegradable bioplastics. Finally, together with customers and food and drink brand owners, bio-based end-packaging will be demonstrated and validated to ensure fast market deployment.
Additionally, in order to ensure 100% of PE and PET recyclability, plastic rejections not optimal for microbial bioconversion into bioplastics will be valorized by their use in building applications instead of be sent to incineration or landfilling.

Keywords: Biocatalysis; Enzyme technology; Nanobiotechnology;; Biotechnology; Enzyme technology; International standardisation; Plastic; Nanobiotechnology; Recycling;