Every year, the Valencian agricultural sector generates around 800 000 tons of plant waste, such as rice straw and citrus pruning waste. The methods used to recover this biomass are costly, as they require commercial enzymes that can represent up to 40% of the cost of the process, limiting its industrial viability. The EU-funded BIOVALSA project aims to develop innovative processes for manufacturing sustainable bioplastics from these waste streams.
It will replace costly chemical compounds with others that allow the three fractions that make up the lignocellulosic biomass to be recovered for use in various applications of interest to the bioplastics industry:
cellulose will be used to produce lactic acid, a key compound in the manufacture of PLA, the most widely used bioplastic,
hemicellulose is expected to yield succinic acid, needed to produce PBS, another sustainable biopolymer with greater flexibility and heat resistance, and the antimicrobial properties of lignin will be used as an additive to prevent the proliferation of microorganisms. This will increase the market value and expand the potential applications of these biodegradable and compostable materials.
The project is in its first year of development, and progress has been made in separating the components of rice straw using alternative methods that do not involve toxic substances. Different strains of bacteria and microorganisms capable of breaking down cellulose and hemicellulose to generate the lactic and succinic acids necessary for the production of bioplastics are also being tested.
The project is coordinated by AIMPLAS, which contributes its experience in waste recovery and biopolymer manufacturing, and brings together specialists from the University Institute of Food Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (FoodUPV) and three other companies based in the Valencian Community. Bioban will contribute its genomic analysis capabilities to identify the most suitable bacterial strains for carrying out the treatments, Viromii will study the economic viability of new processes for obtaining biocomposites, and Prime Biopolymers, as the end customer, will be responsible for producing the biomaterials and analyzing applicability of the materials obtained during the project.
source : European Union
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