An EU-funded project has launched the first of two open calls for companies interested in developing bio-based materials. Winners will have access to cutting-edge tech that will help scale up their innovations.
Is your company interested in or already developing products based on biomaterials? Or do you have an innovative product based on biomaterials in mind? Then an open call launched by the EU-funded INN-PRESSME project may be the stepping stone you need to scale up your bio-based materials from lab to pre-industrial scale.
Launched on 1 December 2022, the open call is the first of two planned in the course of the project. It is aimed at tech and non-tech SMEs, start-ups and mid-caps, as well as large industrial companies with promising innovation concepts. “In principle, each industry partner could apply, but as we are targeting the circular economy the products should be recyclable, either in a plastic circle or in a fibre-based product circle, or as a composite. The applicants should have a clear idea of what they are looking for and should already have done some laboratory tests,” states lead scientist Dr Ulla Forsström of INN-PRESSME project coordinator VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in a news item posted on ‘Packaging Europe’. The application deadline for the first call is 30 January 2023.
The open call is an opportunity for companies to test before investment. In other words, to see if the idea they have been working on is really doable on a larger scale. Submitted proposals will be evaluated by a board of experts based on their excellence, economic, social, environmental and technological impact, and on the quality and efficiency of the implementation.Bio-based materials have the potential to replace conventional plastics and speed up Europe’s transition to a circular economy. As companies across Europe race to develop and scale up viable alternatives to fossil-based plastics, they must overcome obstacles related to their materials’ durability, strength, lightness and price.
Through its open innovation test bed (OITB), INN-PRESSME is facilitating this process by supporting SMEs and other companies in their efforts to develop bio-based solutions in the packaging, energy, transport and consumer goods sectors. The OITB has 16 pilot lines, offering a wide range of services for feedstock conversion, materials development and upgrading. The focus is on nano-cellulose, bioplastics and natural fibres to make the products under development more eco-friendly.
“The beneficiaries will get access to our large-scale pilot trials for free,” explains Dr Forsström in the same news item. “Based on our knowledge we would then customise the needed pilot facilities to develop the solutions that the customer is targeting for a scale-up.”
Five to nine innovation concepts will be selected in the first call, with the overall objective for both calls being to select a total of 12 to 15 concepts. The winning concepts will be able to make use of the cutting-edge technologies of INN-PRESSME’s pilot lines to advance their biomaterial innovations.
The registration form for the first INN-PRESSME (open INNovation ecosystem for sustainable Plant-based nano-enabled biomateRials deploymEnt for packaging, tranSport and conSuMEr goods) open call can be downloaded from the project website.
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