EU-funded project BIOMAC (European Sustainable BIObased nanoMAterials Community) aims at establishing an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), a collaborative ecosystem where technologies and solutions utilising biobased nanomaterials will be upscaled and prepared for market applications, providing SMEs or industry an open access to a single-entry point. BIOMAC will boost the production of innovative bio-based and nanomaterial chemicals during the project runtime of four years and beyond during its commercialization phase.

The BIOMAC ecosystem will function as a cluster of parallel activities taking the form of 17 Pilot Lines (PLs) covering the whole value chain, from biomass fractionation and intermediate chemicals to final-enabled biopolymers. The PLs are grouped in 3 clusters and their activities will enable the realization of 5 concrete outputs (Test Cases), demonstrating the validity of BIOMAC’s approach and the high value of Nano structured bio-based materials (NBM) applications.

The five initial Test Cases (TeCs) are:

• TeC1: Automotive
  Bio-based resins reinforced with NBMs will be used in the fabrication of interior car parts and components for the automotive industry.
• TeC2: Agricultural applications
  The use of different biomaterials and NBMs will be validated in various agricultural applications, including biodegradation-in-soil properties of materials.
• TeC3: Food packaging
  Vacuum thermoforming will be post-utilized to produce bio compostable and biodegradable food containers, leading to improved food maintenance/conservation and safety.
• TeC4: Construction
  Bio nanocomposites will be tested for future use in the construction industry, among which are final products that reduce transportation and installation time of the materials, thanks to lighter weight and other properties.
• TeC5: Printed Electronics
  The main objective will be to develop stretchable conductive layers embedded into textiles (e.g., sock with integrated conductors) using a bio-based stretchable substrate, an ink, and adhesives with printed electronic processes.

After the successful demonstration of the five TeCs, BIOMAC will launch an Open Call aiming to select 5 new TeCs by companies and research bodies interested to access the ecosystem services. The BIOMAC ecosystem will offer them services for upscaling biomaterial concepts through the Pilot Lines and cover the assessment of regulation, safety, sustainability, circularity, and market potential. It will provide open services and solutions, accessible to SMEs or other Industries from a single-entry point. Through the Pilot lines, technologies that have been developed up to TRL 4-5 will be upscaled and validated up to TRL 7. This same procedure will be extended after the project’s official duration, granting innovators and researchers access to the ecosystem’s services at fair conditions and cost beyond 2024.

The BIOMAC project officially started on 1st January 2021 and will run for the next four years. On 14th and 15th of January 2021 the consortium, comprising of 33 partners from 12 countries, organised the kick-off meeting where the objectives, roles, responsibilities, tasks, and WPs of all partners were discussed and agreed upon, including the next steps and operational roadmap of the project. BIOMAC receives funding of EUR 16.7M from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 “Foundations for Tomorrow’s Industry” (H2020-NMBP-TO-IND-2018-2020) call DT-NMBP-04-2020.