Feathers contain significant amounts of keratin, which can be used to produce biodegradable materials, but about 75% of waste feathers end up in a landfill. Farrelly and Mitchell will evaluate the requirements for both the technical and logistical details of developing an industry to convert the feathers into usable materials. Funding is provided by the EU UNLOCK project.
“The building of economically viable, environmentally sustainable value chains are essential to driving Europe’s activities and global leadership role in combatting climate change,” Malachy Mitchell, the firm’s managing director, told Agriland. According to the publication, Europe generates 3.6 million metric tons of feathers annually.
In addition to Farrelly and Mitchell, 14 other organizations are participating in UNLOCK. The ultimate goal is to build two commercial-scale biorefiners to convert feathers.