Chemo-enzymatic processing of bio-based building blocks to circular functional materials

Which problem does the project address and what solutions does it propose?

To produce the plastic materials we use daily, the industry has always used petroleum derivatives. What was not considered at the beginning of the history of plastics in the late 19th century was the constant accumulation of plastic waste in the environment. The responsibility for the current situation lies not only with users who act irresponsibly, whether they are ordinary citizens or large companies, but also with the technical difficulty of recycling extremely heterogeneous materials. This problem, as is well known, significantly contributes to accelerating climate change and land degradation, posing an existential threat to Europe and the entire world.

New Polymers are Needed

The need to develop a sustainable polymer chemistry led to the development of various renewable materials of natural origin and the use of biocatalysis for the synthesis and recycling of polymers. Nowadays, when considering multifunctional monomers (which we can imagine as small building blocks used to "construct" polymers) derived from biomass, it is known that the classical chemo-catalytic synthetic techniques used by industries have significant limitations in terms of selectivity (resulting in unwanted by-products) and the use of toxic or environmentally harmful compounds.

The Solution Comes from New Technologies

Starting from the technological limitations of the production techniques currently used by industries, the CIRCULARIZE project (Chemo-enzymatic processing of bio-based building blocks to circular functional materials) aims to create and apply new synthetic technologies based on sustainable chemo-enzymatic processes to develop a collection of 100% renewable polymers that possess "smart" characteristics and are at the same time biodegradable. This project seeks to convert renewable resources into advanced functional materials by using highly selective synthetic techniques that adhere to the principles of green chemistry at every level.

CIRCULARIZE aspires to achieve this goal through new cross-sectoral approaches involving biotechnology, organic chemistry, and materials science, aiming to create new knowledge in the application of enzymes as natural catalysts for the synthesis and recycling of polymeric materials with zero environmental impact.

CIRCULARIZE news

Very happy to see this collaboration work with Robert McElroy finally published! A big thanks to the talented researchers that made it possible: Léa Charrier and C. Peter Howe. You can read the full text of the open access publication following this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468823124005765

Thanks also to the European Research Council (ERC) for the funding (ERC-2023-STG, 101114664, CIRCULARIZE)!

Funded by the European Union (ERC, CIRCULARIZE, 101114664). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.