The European Project to Transform Agri-Food Waste into Bioplastics:
How the European Furniture Industry Will Become Greener
New sustainable polymers generated from tomato, olive and wood waste. The Italian company Bonlex Europe has been tasked with verifying the potential applications of the new polymers in the furnishing and design sector. NSB Project Srl (NSB), the second Italian partner, acts as an Innovation Broker.
Developing innovative materials that replace plastic by virtuously utilizing agri-food waste: this is the goal of the European project Polymers-5B, inaugurated in Lisbon by a consortium of 12 European partners led by the Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e o Desenvolvimento (IST-ID). The two Italian partners, NSB and Bonlex Europe, announced this in Italy. NSB takes on the role of Innovation Broker for the consortium and will coordinate the entire dissemination and capitalization process of the research results, promoting technology transfer. Bonlex Europe, a Treviso-based company controlled by the Japanese group C.I. Takiron Corporation, specializes in the production of decorative films for the furniture and design industry. Bonlex Europe will contribute to the project through material characterization and experimentation in furniture and interior design components.
Polymers-5B is a European project funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). With a funding of €5.6 million, the Polymers-5b consortium aims to create innovative materials through biocatalysis and green chemistry that mimic traditional plastics but with a significantly reduced environmental impact. The research will focus on selecting bio-renewable monomers from tomato waste, olive oil, and wood pulp. The project not only aims to develop new materials but also to implement sustainable extraction processes, using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it aims to create circular supply chains and, ultimately, to guarantee the environmental sustainability of the products and final applications by assessing their life cycle.
Project 101157840 funded by the Horizon Europe program of the European Union under the call HORIZON-JU-CBE-2023-R-04 – Development of novel, high-performance bio-based polymers and co-polymers
