The platform chemicals sector is currently highly dependent on fossil-fuels. The small volumes of current biobased platform chemicals are reliant on sugar/starch/oil crops which diverts them from food uses and there are also high environmental impacts linked with their land-use and supply cycles. Lignocellulosic feedstocks, particularly residues, are more sustainable but to date the range of chemicals that have been demonstrated at-scale from these has been limited. In particular, there are a range of functionalities associated with fossil-derived platform chemicals that current biobased chemicals cannot replicate. BIONEER addresses this issue by demonstrating production of a new range of carbohydrate-derived building blocks and platform chemicals at TRL6/7. A selection of additional functionalities obtained through carefully controlled optimised modifications and involving both chemical and enzymatic approaches are conferred to the new building blocks that, for the first time at-scale, allow for the mass-market substitution of fossil-derived chemicals in a range of application markets. BIONEER builds on the TRL4/5 advances made in the development of resource and energy-efficient processes for the production of these building blocks in prior projects. The BIONEER consortium and advisory board covers all stages of the value cycle, ranging from the sourcing of sustainable feedstocks to the extraction and modification of biomass fractions, leading to the production of building blocks that are then application tested in the UV-cured-coatings and personal care sectors by industrial partners. Safety and sustainability aspects are integral to BIONEER, which follows, and seeks to improve, the EU’s safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) framework. It is expected, due to the involvement of key technology developers and industrial partners, that the BIONEER technologies will be rapidly commercialised post-project.

Achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 requires the replacement of fossil-based material with bio-based material on a broad basis. Today, ca. 900 kt/y paints and coatings are produced in Europe, with more than 80% still being from fossil resources. Wood and decorative coatings represent a large market, accounting for more than half of that volume. The goal of the PERFECOAT project is to develop and validate a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with significantly more than 25% bio-based components that meet and even surpass the current quality and sustainability standards. Our concept is based on a flexible platform of novel technologies to produce and functionalize new, bio-based bulk coating components and assemble them into new coating formulations. Three major coating markets will be addressed: 1) high-volume ultraviolet (UV)-curable clearcoats, 2) do-it-yourself (DIY) waterborne trim paints, and 3) DIY waterborne wall paints. End-of-life scenarios plus economic, environmental, and social assessments will support the technological development in PERFECOAT, to guarantee a high level of sustainability throughout the value chain. The coating ingredients and final coating blends produced by PERFECOAT will be tested for safety compatibility at different stages of their development. High performance of new advanced bio-based binders, fillers and additives will be systematically developed and validated in coatings, starting from a proof of concept (TRL3) to demonstrator validation (TRL5). PERFECOAT is implemented by a strong, well-balanced, multidisciplinary consortium of experts from 4 universities and research institutes and 8 commercial project partners, including 4 SMEs, in 7 member countries. All partners are committed and highly motivated to jointly increase the competitiveness and sustainability of European industry by bringing innovative materials and methods closer to the marked while fostering new cross-sector interaction.