A consortium of European research centres develops plastic bags, soap and food from mushroom waste

• The European project FUNGUSCHAIN has manufactured new products such as biodegradable bags, essential oils or vitamin enriched food for the elderly from fungus residues.
• This initiative has been financed by the European Commission and brings together 15 European partners who make possible circular bioeconomy and introduce a new concept about biorefinery that will entail a breakthrough in the current industry.

Zaragoza, April 14^th 2021. - Have you ever learned that about 25% of every kilogram of mushroom is discarded as waste? For instance, the stem is the part of the mushroom that is usually not sold. However, it has molecules with very high protein value that can be used to create new plastic, cosmetic and food bio-products. Thus, the European project FUNGUSCHAIN has successfully developed compostable shopping or garbage bags, films for crops, soaps, essential oils and multiproteic foods for the elderly from mushroom waste.

The FUNGUSCHAIN Research Project has been funded by the European Commission and brings together 16 partners from ten European countries. They have worked on these super properties of mushrooms for four years and a half and the project has just finished successfully achieving its goals. Not only has the project developed new products, but it has also enabled an innovative circular economy approach that will entail a breakthrough in the current industrial system.

AFTERLIFE, a 4 million € EU project focused on finding an integrated solution for the recovery and conversion of relevant fractions from wastewater, was officially launched Monday September 11. Led by EggPlant Srl, the project consortium is comprised of 15 partners from 7 European countries.

On September 11th and 12th the official kick-off was held for the Afterlife project in Bari, Italy. Scientists at companies and research institutes will be cooperating for the next four years to find an integrated solution for the recovery and conversion of relevant fractions from wastewater. AFTERLIFE is a European collaborative project framed on the Bio-based Industries (BBI) call. 15 partners (Idener, Austep, BBEU, Celabor, Lurederra, Mi-Plast, nova-Institut, VTT, CSIC, CTC, Nova-id-FCT, Jake, Heritage 1466, Citromil) from 7 European countries (Belgium, Germany, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Spain and Portugal) participate in this European 4 million € project.

The CIRC-PACK project will create, test and validate alternative bio-based and recyclable plastics, and new types of multilayer and multimaterial packaging.

Rijeka, July 30, 2017 - A new EU-funded initiative aims to transform plastic waste into a resource by developing a more sustainable, re-usable form of packaging. Launched in May, the project will support market uptake of the new packaging, promoting a transition to a circular economy.

CIRC-PACK (Towards circular economy in the plastic packaging value chain) will create, test and validate alternative bio-based and recyclable (including biodegradable or compostable) plastics for the manufacturing of trays, bottles, coffee capsules, jars, films and pallets, and new types of multilayer and multimaterial packaging. It is also expected to improve the recycling rates of the automotive and hygiene product industries, and increase the amount of recycled materials in products such as car parts, sanitary towels and nappies.

A 22-partner consortium led by the Zaragoza-based Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE) will carry out three large-scale demonstrations through an eco-innovative approach that will involve actors across the whole value chain, including consumers, plastic suppliers, converters and retailers, as well as those responsible for waste recovery.