In Europe, 16 project partners in eight European countries are working together on recently launched project called Urbiofin to create building blocks, biopolymers and additives derived from organic components of municipal waste. The project plans on converting the waste into bioplastics and high-quality products. Their goal is to replace the current treatment of organic municipal solid waste, usually landfills or incineration, with a more sustainable alternative.
Netherlands based Wageningen Food & Biobased Research is focusing on production of medium-chain-length fatty acids and derived PHAs via microbial fermentation for bioplastics. Hans Mooibroek, Project Manager at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research told Plastics Today “A key advantage of these microbial plastics is that they are produced from renewable resources and are completely biodegradable. Our specific objective is to produce so-called medium-chain-length PHAs (mcl-PHAs), which are suitable for high-value applications such as biodegradable agricultural plastics or biomaterials for the cosmetics industry.”