The new research project Be-UP, funded with €8.5 million by the Horizon Europe Programme, has now been launched. The project aims to develop new renewable polymers for the production and use of biodegradable packaging across Europe.

Coordinated by ITENE (Spain), Be-UP brings together a consortium of 17 private and public organisations from nine countries, with the University of Trieste as the only Italian university involved. Participating companies include Novamont, Particula, Hybrid Catalysis, Isotech, Aptar Group, Imerys, Innotech (Grupo Lantero), and the laboratories Polinivo, Normec, Cebimat, FTPO and IDENER. European Bioplastics and the competitiveness cluster Polymeris will ensure the dissemination of Be-UP results, with the support of the Spanish Standardisation Association (UNE).

In detail, the Be-UP project aims to develop pioneering methods for the synthesis and industrial processing (extrusion, injection moulding and thermoforming) of polyesters derived from bio-based raw materials. Be-UP will employ biocatalysts and sustainable additives, while also integrating advanced multi-object digital modelling tools to achieve simultaneously high technical performance, sustainability and biodegradability of polymers.

The Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Trieste is involved in the project with a multidisciplinary team combining biocatalysis (Prof. Lucia Gardossi), computational chemistry (Prof. Emanuele Carosati) and spectroscopy (Prof. Fioretta Asaro). The research is supported by funding of approximately €330,000 over four years, enabling the activation of a research contract and a PhD scholarship. A further position will be opened in 2026.

In recent years, the UniTS team has designed and enzymatically synthesised new bio-based polyesters which, thanks to collaboration with the ecology group led by Prof. Monia Renzi in the Department of Life Sciences at UniTS, have also provided the basis for the development of rapid tests to assess the marine ecotoxicity and biodegradability of polyesters. These studies open new prospects for the rational design of environmentally sustainable polymers and demonstrate the importance of multidisciplinary collaborations in addressing the complex environmental challenges faced by science today. The results, which led to participation in the Be-UP project, were achieved thanks to two Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants (RenEcoPol and InterFACES) and to funding under the PNRR – NextGenerationEU (ICSC – National Centre for Research in High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, Spoke 7).

At the conclusion of Be-UP, packaging prototypes will be produced with a high level of technological maturity (TRL7) in order to validate the materials developed. Their biodegradability will be assessed in various end-of-life scenarios, including both open natural environments and controlled conditions. The UniTS team will develop computational models capable of correlating polymer structure with marine biodegradability.

This data-driven approach will help to improve the knowledge base underpinning European regulations, support industrial competitiveness and accelerate the transition towards a truly circular bioeconomy, making a direct contribution to several European action plans and strategies, including the plastics strategy, the Single-Use Plastics Directive, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the regulation on packaging and packaging waste.