Objectives:
The European poultry sector generates 3.6 million tonnes of waste feathers each year, of which only around 25% are collected separately and valorised. In line with the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, UNLOCK proposes to valorise this waste stream and design a new economically and environmentally sustainable value chain.
This project has received funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 101023306.
Description:
UNLOCK designs and demonstrates an economically and environmentally sustainable supply-chain for a feather-based bioeconomy which will generate innovative functional materials for agricultural applications.
The bio-based products created will be tailored to the needs of the agriculture sector, with the creation of seed trays, nonwoven geotextiles, mulch films and hydroponic foams through four different technical processes, depending on the type of end products desired.
And as feathers contain nearly 90% keratin, the innovative materials arising from this new value chain will present additional advantages at the end of the product’s life: keratin-based materials are targeted to be zero waste and allow for controlled biodegradability, while also enriching soils with organic nitrogen.
Web:
unlock-project.eu/
Project partners:
ACUDAM | GREENOVATE EUROPE | AGRO BIO CLUSTER | PROCESSUM | AIMPLAS | Łukasiewicz | INKOA | OWS | FARRELLY & MITCHELL | TECNO PACKAGING | BIO-MI | BIOEXTRAX | TERRA AQUATICA | CEDROB | CIDETEC |
