Biodegradable polymers for sustainable packaging materials

Deadline: 7February 2024 ; 24 September 2024

Expected outcome:

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• The packaging industry will have access to the next generation of biodegradable polymer materials, which will also be recyclable materials. Plastic materials producers will switch from PP, PE and PET to bio-degradable materials with reduced GHG emissions along the value chain.
• The packaging industry will apply business model of circularity-by-design and sustainable end-of-life (EoL) solutions for plastic packaging materials. This has the potential to lead to a reduction in landfill waste volume of packaging materials; and to a reduction of littering of plastics, coherent with the ambition of the Horizon Europe Oceans and Water mission, to reduce the plastic pollution of the oceans. Projects are expected to contribute to the Plastics strategy, the Single-use Plastics Directive and the EU Circular Economy Action plan (CEAP).
• Standards and labels for specific applications will be further defined based on the development of testing of biodegradability of plastics in open environments.

Scope:

Proposals should address the following activities:

• Develop new, demonstrate and scale-up novel advanced bio-degradable polymer materials and innovative processes that will allow the bio-degradable polymers to be produced at a large scale with a similar economy of scale to replace present production with PE, PP and PET, and with an improved sustainability profile compared to present production and EoL characteristics.
• Develop sustainable additive and catalysts to support the production of bio-degradable polymers.
• Provide evidence with life-cycle and techno-economic assessment that the cost for the novel advanced biodegradable polymer products are not significantly higher compared to existing polymer products on the market.
• Scale up the production of packaging materials at pilot level.