Category: Sidestream Valorization

In a nutshell
Goal of the TRUCE project is, first of all, to develop new building blocks for highly functional, flexible packaging solutions that can be combined into fully recyclable mono-polyethylene (≥95% PE) structures.

The combined expertise of packaging design from Amcor, polyethylene production, design and recycling activities from Borealis, specialty additives from Eastman, adhesives from Bostik, packaging line and food product requirements from Puratos and recyclability testing and predictive modelling from Ghent University will result in new innovative packaging designs and bring certainty to the recyclability at both small and larger scale.

The first application testing will be performed at Puratos and will result in a proof of concept for these new recyclable flexible packaging structures. Ghent University will perform the life cycle assessment (LCA) study of the innovative packaging designs. Finally, the consortium is completed by spearhead cluster Flanders’ FOOD, which actively supports the project.

Recyclability protocol
TRUCE also seeks to develop a robust and targeted recyclability protocol, which is both lean and representative for the targeted recycling stream. This will, on the one hand, allow the project partners to do fact-based analyses of the improved recyclability of the newly developed structures at state-of-the-art recycling facilities. On the other hand, the protocol could align and integrate with existing evaluation systems, to bring the best of both worlds to industrial application and accelerate the implementation of recycling-ready structures into the market.

Impact
By involving a wide range of industrial partners throughout the value chain, TRUCE enables the testing of the developed structures on dedicated packaging lines at industrial scale, taking a critical step towards product testing in an operational environment and assuring functionality of the packaging towards the shelf-life performance of the packaged good. Life cycle assessment will help quantify the environmental sustainability performance of the new innovative packaging designs (with the building blocks of highly functional flexible packaging solutions) in particular applications. All in all, the results to be obtained by this project will represent yet another important step towards a truly circular economy.

Project Details

Project type:	COOP, intercluster with Flanders’ FOOD
Approved on:	18/12/2020
Duration:	1/01/2021 – 31/12/2022
Total budget:	€2.236.912
Subsidy:	€1.170.153

Project Partners

The Encaps2Control project sets out to develop a new and sustainable encapsulation technology for the controlled release of active ingredients in animal feed and organic fertilizers. This technology is based on biopolymers from renewable resources.

More information about this project will soon be provided on this page.

Project Details

Project type:	ICON
Approved on:	12/12/2019
Duration:	31/12/2019 – 30/12/2022
Total budget:	€3.698.711
Subsidy:	€2.539.348

Project Partners

The PVCircular project will set up a cross-sector symbiotic relationship between companies with different end applications to add value to currently unused fibreglass/PVC waste streams by recycling internally and externally. In this way, all the companies will strive towards a more circular business model.

More information about this project will soon be provided on this page.

Project Details

Project type:	O&O
Approved on:	13/12/2018
Duration:	1/01/2019 – 31/12/2020
Total budget:	€1.597.524
Subsidy:	€638.857

Project Partners

In a circular economy, recycling of products after use is key. Currently merely 30% of our plastic and textile waste is being recycled. The vast majority of recyclable products are one-component materials. Coated and laminated materials are difficult to recycle because of their hybrid nature: the coating layer is difficult to separate from the bulk material or the coating layer can be cured to prevent melting or dissolution in conventional solvents.

The current routes for end-of-life of complex-composite products are mainly focusing on burning or converting into RDF pellets (Refuse Driven Fuel). The energy content and presence of a fusible fraction (carrier and possibly also coating) explain why this waste disposal method is widely spread. Another commonly used route is mechanical reduction via shredders and subsequent use as filler material.

The RECYCOAT project aims to investigate various technologies to separate the different layers present in complex coated or laminated (multilayer) materials (in particular textiles and plastics). The focus is on developing a good design (eco-design) of the multi-layered products and/or altering the chemistry of the coating or adhesive layer. The material should be developed in such a way that maximum separation (i.e. recycling) is made possible: the different layers present in the complex material must be completely separable from each other.

An example of such a technology is an adapted adhesive layer of a carpet allowing separation in boiling water. After 30 seconds the secondary backing is split off.

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Project Details

Project type:	VIS
Approved on:	04/12/2017
Duration:	31/01/2018 – 29/02/2020
Total budget:	€422.311
Subsidy:	€337.849

Project Partners

The 2030 framework for climate and energy policies contains a binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions in EU territory by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and has the ambition to further reduce them by 80-95% by 2050. As theoretical limits of efficiency are being reached and process-related emissions are unavoidable in some sectors, there is an urgent need to develop efficient carbon capture and utilisation systems. In the past, most research has focused on the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂), also referred to as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is a technology directed to CO₂ abatement and removes carbon from the economy. In addition to CCS, CO₂ can also be transformed into valuable added products. This is known as carbon capture and utilization (CCU). Since the use of CO₂ as a carbon feedstock has the potential to create attractive business cases for production of chemicals, more and more novel CCU technologies are being reported and the range of CO₂-derived products is expanding. However, these emerging technologies all have different technology readiness levels (TRL) and a comparison for different technologies is missing.

The main objective of the project is the development of technologies for the conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals using catalysis and renewable energy. To benchmark, compare and develop the various technologies, the formation of formic acid was selected as the initial target. Formic acid is the first product of the hydrogenation of CO₂ towards value-added chemicals. In the project, the development of 4 catalytic routes (homogenous & heterogeneous catalysis, photochemical plasma-catalysis, electrochemical catalysis and bio-catalysis) is planned, enabling the sustainable synthesis of formic acid and more complex value-added chemicals (Single Cell Proteins, etc.). Sustainability is the common denominator of the different routes investigated in the project as they will enable the creation of a circular economy using (i) abundant reagents: CO₂, H₂O and electricity produced by surplus of renewable energies production through electrolysis and (ii) sustainable catalysts: earth-abundant metals will be used in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, in photochemical and electro-catalytic syntheses, and set-ups will fully exploit renewable electricity. Finally, the potential of enzymatic catalysts (microbes and bacteria) will be exploited to use nitrogen from waste water sources to produce organic molecules of added value and microbial proteins for feed/food applications. At the end of the project, the partners want to be able to select the best technology  (CO₂ source, purity and intended product, availability of excess electricity) for the conversion of CO₂. A decision support framework will be developed to support this decision process. Via a techno-economic analysis, the different catalytic routes towards formic acid will be benchmarked against each other and against the classical process via base-catalyzed carbonylation of methanol.

The second objective is the valorization of formic acid. On the one hand, formic acid will be used as a building block for the bio-catalytic production of value-added chemicals such as Single Cell Proteins. On the other hand, formic acid is considered as a H₂ carrier to propose a circular economy with CO₂ and H₂/electricity generated from renewable sources (POWER to CHEMICALS): when renewable sources (solar, wind, …) produce energy surplus, this energy can be converted in H₂ (through electrolysis) that is chemically converted with CO₂ into formic acid. When utilizing the H₂ upon conversion of formic acid, CO₂ is released and can be used recycled/reused with a new supply of H₂ for the formation of formic acid generating a true circular approach.



Advisory Board
This project has the ambition to strengthen the position of Flanders in terms of research into CO₂-based processes and materials. The relevance of this cluster SBO project is further emphasized by an industrial advisory board (pictured below), who are eager to implement the results and create economic valorisation. Current members of the advisory board include: 3M, Alco Biofuel, Arcelor Mittal, Avecom, Borealis, Cargill, Eastman, ENGIE Laborelec, Hydrogenics, INEOS, Messer, Monsanto, Nutrition Sciences and Smart Bioprocess.

Project Details

Project type:	cSBO
Approved on:	14/12/2017
Duration:	01/03/2018 – 01/03/2022
Total budget:	€2.612.101
Subsidy:	€2.612.101

Project Partners