B-PLAS DEMO: Creating Bioplastics from Industrial Organic Waste
B-PLAS DEMO – an EIT Climate-KIC demonstrator project led by the University of Bologna, Italy – is developing an automated industrial-scale plant that can transform sludge, food waste, and other organic waste residues into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a biodegradable bioplastic.
Using a raw material like sludge – that suppliers have to pay to dispose of – has the potential to make PHA price-comparable with traditional plastics and bioplastics.
Circular innovation is not always confined to the commercialisation of new technologies. B-PLAS DEMO is a novel combination of existing technologies with new processes implemented through an openinnovation business model.
In this report we illustrate why innovative business models cannot transform existing production systems alone; they need support from system elements to succeed (e.g. policy, finance).