The MATS group advances in the development of strategies that accelerate the biodegradation of bioplastics in compost medium within the framework of the BIOFAST project
BIOFAST is a project financed as a Strategic Project in Cooperation by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) (INNEST/2022/295), in which the MATS group of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Valencia participates, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology of Plastics (AIMPLAS) and the Valencian SME Prime Biopolymers.
In accordance with the main objective of the BIOFAST project to develop a combined methodological protocol to accelerate the biodegradation of bioplastics in a composting environment, the MATS group has applied different materials pretreatment technologies, including physical techniques based on plasma irradiation and UV radiation, as well as hydro- and chemo-thermal degradation strategies. This has allowed to obtain fractions of materials with different degrees of pretreatment, which will result in a presumed acceleration of their subsequent biodegradation process in a controlled composting environment.
For their part, the consortium partners, Prime Biopolymers and AIMPLAS, have successfully prepared the different compositions of compostable biopolymeric materials in film shape, and have managed to enrich and characterize the compost intended for the biodegradation process, respectively.
The next steps in the project involve the characterization of the different compositions of pretreated biopolymeric materials, as well as the evaluation of the biodegradation of these materials in compost medium. It is expected that these advances will generate relevant economic and environmental impacts within the framework of the circular economy, accelerating the biodegradation and valorization processes of bioplastics in composting plants.
This project has been co-financed by the European Union through the Operational Program of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the Valencian Community 2021-2027 with the objective of "Promoting technological development, innovation and quality research."
