Project Targets Bioplastics, Sustainable PU from Agri-food and Lignocellulosic Residues

• The Promofer project focuses on different strategies to overcome key industrial bottlenecks in the fermentation processes of two high-value bio-based compounds: PHBV and 2,3-BDO.

• Funded by the European Union’s CBE-JU, the project valorizes a wide range of agri-food and lignocellulosic residues—including low-value starches, whey permeates, industrial wastewater, rice straw, wheat straw, and pruning waste.

In the face of growing environmental concerns and the urgent need to reduce dependence on fossil resources, the development of circular and bio-based solutions is becoming increasingly important. One of the most promising approaches is the transformation of agricultural and food industry residues into high-value bio-based materials, such as biodegradable plastics and sustainable components for industrial applications. These innovations not only help reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions but also support the transition toward a more resilient and resource-efficient European economy.

In this context, the Promofer project, coordinated by AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, and funded by the European Union’s CBE-JU, aims to unlock the potential of agri-food and lignocellulosic residues by converting them into two high-value bio-based compounds: PHBV, a biodegradable plastic, and 2,3-BDO, a key ingredient in the production of sustainable polyurethanes.

Scaled up fermentation

The Promofer project focuses on different strategies to overcome key industrial bottlenecks in the fermentation processes of these two high-value bio-based compounds. After its first year of activity, the project consortium met on June 17 at University College Dublin to review progress across the different work packages. Key achievements include promising results in enzymatic hydrolysis, near-completion of microorganism characterization, and the first outcomes in the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Work is also advancing on scaling up the fermentation processes and designing the production systems for PHBV (a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutanoic acid and 3-hydroxypentanoic acid) and the plastic feedstock 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO).

The second cycle of collecting agri-industrial waste is being organized, analysis of collected (agri and food) wastes has already been carried out. The project valorizes a wide range of agri-food and lignocellulosic residues—including low-value starches, whey permeate, industrial wastewater, rice straw, wheat straw, and pruning waste.

The ambition of the Promofer project is linked to the use of specific bio-based wastes from different industries, generated in significant amounts in Europe and showing specific overcomes to be valorized into high-added value products and to improve fermentative processes to produce the bioplastics PHBV and bio-based polyurethane (PU), whose yield are often inefficient to compete with chemical synthesis processes.

Low value feedstocks

On the one hand, agro-industrial wastes (low value starches, whey permeate, industrial wastewater) will be used to produce PHBV a biodegradable and biobased bioplastic. On the other hand, lignocellulosic biomass (rice straw, wheat straw and prune waste) will be used to produce 2,3-BDO a chain extender in thermoplastic polyurethanes. E (

Promofer will contribute to significant knowledge advancements of the state-of-the-art in biobased waste treatments, improvements of strain capacities, uses of biocatalysts, process designs and downstream processes.

Promofer is coordinated by AIMPLAS, and the Consortium counts 13 partners from seven European Countries. The project will run for 48 months, until June 2028.