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The Project
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BIOMAC (European Sustainable BIO-based nanoMAterials Community) is a Horizon2020 project that will establish an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), a true collaborative ecosystem where technologies and solutions utilising nano-enabled bio-based materials (NBMs) will be upscaled and prepared for market applications.

The BIOMAC Ecosystem will provide open access to its facilities (17 Pilot Lines) and complementary services required for the development, testing and upscaling of materials and products in the field of nano-enabled bio-based products and materials. The Pilots Lines of BIOMAC cover the whole value chain, from biomass fractionation and intermediate chemicals to final NBMs.

After the validation of the BIOMAC ecosystem through 5 internal test cases (TeCs) in the fields of automotive, agricultural, food packaging, construction and printed electronics industries, an open call for expression of interest for stakeholders will be launched, inviting 5 more intra TeCs to assess the OITB. BIOMAC will function as an one-stop-shop accecible at fair conditions and costs through a single entry point, represented by ΙΒΒ Netzwerk.

The ambition of BIOMAC is to boost and sustain innovation in the field of European bio-economy industries, by reducing the time-to-market of novel nanotechnologies, thus reducing cost and risks.

IN DETAIL

In March 2020, the European Commission (EC) adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan that aims to make the European economy fit for a green future, and strengthen its competitiveness while protecting the environment . In fact, one of the main priorities of the EC for for 2019-24 is the “European Green Deal”, a plan to make the EU's economy sustainable with the ultimate goal of becoming climate neutral in 2050 .

One of the keys for the successful implementation of the European Circular Economy is the increasing reliance on bio-based products derived from biomass. A wider adoption of such products can solve several problems linked to solid waste disposal, as they could be reused at the end of their life cycle, ensuring full circularity. Nano-structured bio-based materials (NBMs) are the answer to many challenges faced by our society, but because of lack of investment, funding for further development and upscaling, as well as the limited willingness of end users to adopt nanomaterials into their processes, only a very small number of such materials is commercially available.

BIOMAC comes to fill this gap, providing comprehensive services to stakeholders, and accelerating the entry of NBMs into the market. To achieve this, the BIOMAC OITB will develop tailor-made solutions for producing and integrating nanomaterials across the bio-based value chain and will simultaneously offer services that cover the assessment of regulation & safety, sustainability, circularity and market potential among with modeling, process control, standardization and characterization; accessible at fair conditions and cost. BIOMAC establishes a concrete community of open collaboration for stakeholders and customers enabling innovation and minimization of investment risks.

the project chart
AFTER 2024
  • Exploitation, sustainability, Dissemination Communication and clustering
  • Self-sustainable and thus its operation will target on the creation of revenues from its different activities
MAIN OBJECTIVES
  1. Establishment of a self-sustainable ecosystem (Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) for upscaling of processes incorporating major developments in NBMs
  2. Upgrade and modification of the PLs through integration of monitoring and process control systems
  3. Validate the operation of the OITB through creating and demonsitrating 5 novel manufacturing supply and value chains (TeCs)
  4. Establishment of a Single-Entry Point (SEP) platform consistent with a One-Stop-Shop framework
  5. Ensuring the post-project sustainability of the ecosystem and creation of a sustainability plan
  6. Deliver production processes and products based on highest efficiency and lowest possible environmental impact and energy requirements throughout their life cycle by means of Social-LCA/LCA/LCC
  7. Development of a Decision Support Tool (DST) for the assessment of the value chains developed
  8. Validation of the circularity of the value chains
  9. Ensuring long-term compliance with monitoring and nanosafety procedures
  10. Definition of technical and managerial guidelines that will allow the functioning of the NMBs for the end-of-life management chains within a circular network through a closed loop system
THE CONCEPT

The BIOMAC ecosystem consists of 17 Pilot Lines and supported by various technical and non-technical services for the upscaling of new bio-based materials concepts.

The OITB starts from biomass pre-treatment, followed by the production of nanomaterials and intermediate platform chemicals, towards the development of end bio-products offering multiple advantages such as shorter processing time, better selectivity, lower energy and footprint, fewer production steps and reduction of by-products. Each Pilot Line has foreseen necessary modifications and upgrades in order to provide flexibility on the adoption of a variety of bio-based monomers, polymers and nanoparticles.

The complementary services include Validation (Quality Control, Characterization, standarization, modelling), Market Uptake (to support business, legalization and data handling issues, including innovation managmenet, health and safety, regulation and data management) and Value Chain Assesment (sustainability assessment, supply management and circular economy). The services offered by BIOMAC cover the whole value chain and are organized into 4 hubs, all accessible under fair conditions and prices through a Single Entry Point.

concept chart
THE OPEN CALL

After the successful demonstration of the five internal TeCs, BIOMAC will launch an Open Call in December 2022, aiming to select 5 new TeCs by companies or 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. The OITB will continue its operation after the project’s official duration, granting innovators and researchers access to the ecosystem’s services at fair conditions and cost beyond 2024.