Although they have the potential to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of biorefineries, oxidative enzymes have not experienced a complete breakthrough yet in the biobased industries. This is mainly caused by the high cost and long time associated with traditional enzyme engineering methods such as directed evolution. SMARTBOX will develop an advanced computational engineering platform specifically for oxidative enzymes, which can automatically screen for improved enzyme variants with minimal human intervention. This is achieved by implementing several innovations into current computational screening methods, most importantly machine learning, which allows to train the algorithms with experimental results. As this significantly improves computational predictability, the time and costs associated with oxidative enzyme engineering will be reduced 10-fold compared to state-of-the-art (SOTA) directed evolution methods. Relying on the advanced engineering platform, SMARTBOX will develop the one-enzyme conversion of HMF into FDCA and intermediates, and the one-enzyme conversion of lignin monomers into a potential biobased building block for polycarbonates and vanillin. By adopting a 1-enzyme FDCA production process, the associated production costs and carbon footprint are expected to decrease significantly compared to SOTA chemical oxidation methods. The unique feature of SMARTBOX is that reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) will be used to selectively produce specific lignin monomers from biomass in near theoretical yields. The structural similarity of the resulting monomers with the SMARTBOX building blocks allows the development of high-yielding processes with only one enzyme. Due to the smart combination between oxidative biocatalysis and RCF, the production of bio-aromatics will proceed with higher yields than the state of the art.

The aim of PULPACKTION project is to develop cellulose-based tailored-to-purpose packaging solutions for specific food and electronic packaging applications which needs medium and high barrier requirement’s and that nowadays are packing in polymer fossil based solutions. This innovation will take advantage of the flexibility in the wet-moulding production of wood pulp based materials. Different types of wood pulp will be combined to prepare slurries for wet-moulding applications. These slurries will be additivated with biopolymers and other bio-based compounds in order to tailor the final properties of the resulting wet-moulded materials. By tailoring the composition of the wet mouldable slurry, a wide range of final properties in the resulting dry material will be achieved. This flexible packaging manufacturing system will be combined with 100% bio-based coatings and films on the cellulose-based substrate. To fulfil the properties required for PULPACKTION’s specific packaging applications using a fully bio-based approach, additional barriers will be implemented onto the wet moulded substrate. For this purpose, new bio-based polymer blends will be optimized. These new blends, containing biopolymers such as thermoplastic starch (TPS), poly (lactic acid) (PLA), other bio-additives, and reinforcements such as microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), will be processed into multilayer films, composites and coatings. In this manner, not only coatings for improved barrier properties, but also 100% bio-based films for packages’ top lids will be produced. Therefore, a final 100% bio-biobased integral packaging solution with similar properties to existing fossil-based packaging solutions will be achieved.

The withdrawal of the most harmful pesticides from the EU market is necessary to mitigate major environmental harm, but is leaving many farmers in a desperate position. CROP-SAFE has identified 3 critical cases of food crops under threat from rapidly spreading pests, whilst go-to pesticides are identified by ECHA as candidates for imminent withdrawal, i.e. Candidates for Substitution (CfS) and Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). 1. Potato crops, widely threatened by Potato cyst nematode (PCN). The approval period for the leading active against PCN, Fosthiazate (CfS), expires in 2027. 2. Tomato crops, suffering from losses up to 65% due to Root knot nematode (RKN). The approval period for Metham sodium (CfS, SVHV), one of the most widely uses actives against RKN, expires in 2025. 3. Banana crops, suffering from the European emergence of Banana Weevils (BW). Growers are using Lambda-cyhalothrin (CfS, SVHC) to manage BW, but the approval period lapses in 2026. CROP-SAFE will develop a holistic package of tools (bioactives, delivery materials, formulations and decision support models) for effective and sustainable management of PCN, RKN, and BW in these crops. Using scalable supplies of bio-based residues (aquatic biomass, forestry residues, spent coffee grounds and fungal waste) and three biorefining partners, CROP-SAFE will down-select the most effective boiactives and delivery materials as a basis for new, SSbD crop protection products. Field trials will be supported by decision support models, overcoming challenges associated with the variable performance of bioactives in different environmental conditions. The CROP-SAFE consortium combines the expertise of 3 Universities (UA, CNR, IQS-URL) and 4 RTOs (CPI, VITO, LEITAT, JHI) with material processing capacity in 3 biorefineries (BOR, ABA, KB) a leading developer of precision agriculture solutions, SE, and a cooperative, COPLACA, representing 3,200 farmers.