The POLYMEER project aims to establish a sustainable bio-based value chain for bioplastic products by transforming wet brewers' spent grain (BSG) into highly valuable materials. The project is backed by AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre.
POLYMEER
The project will transform BSG into bioplastics to differentiate the material solutions that have the potential to replace traditional plastics.
Today, bioplastics represent only 1.5% of global plastic production, and it's not projected to grow to satisfy the market needs. Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is rich in fibre and protein and is mostly used as low-value animal feed or discarded in landfills, leading to environmental issues. BSG could be converted into feedstock for bioplastics, but the limited applications available today and the lack of scalability interfere with this.
POLYMEER aims to develop new bio-based polymers, copolymers and polymer blends based on BSG exploiting green, waste-minimised processes. This will create alternatives to traditional plastics, which will then undergo a chemical design to ensure that they have the specific properties for three applications. These are mulch films suitable for agricultural use, textiles for the automotive industry, and tertiary packaging films for industrial purposes.
The project's focus over 48 months will be to optimise the conversion of BSG into bio-based building blocks, generating high-performance bioplastics that can replace traditional materials. It will also assess the life cycle sustainability, cost-effectiveness and scalability of these solutions while ensuring that the key stakeholders are market-ready and comply with regulations.
The project is supported by an international consortium, including universities, research centres and companies.
