Project Portugal 2030

Summary

The StarchMod4BioPlas operation aims to produce ecofriendly water tolerant starch ester-based biobags for widespread usage, with the scale-up guaranteed. For this, starch ester-based materials will be developed following starch transesterification reaction using spent frying oil (SFO) as a source of low-cost triacylglycerides, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) powder, as the alkaline catalyst, following mechanochemistry and reactive extrusion (REX) approaches. This will boost scientific progress to improve the process of starch hydrophobization exploring the potentialities of mechanochemistry and REX, since the esterification approaches used so far are time-consuming, require solvents or mixture of solvents, high-purity fatty acids and analytical grade anhydride derivatives, making them very expensive. In this operation, both starch and triacylglycerides will be recovered from burned food frying byproducts, secondary materials originated from food industry processing that do not compete with primary food-grade raw materials, following the bioeconomy domain defined in RIS3, for NUTS II Centre Region, of Portugal 2030, where Aveiro is included. Therefore, the production of water tolerant starch ester-based materials as primary forms for the manufacture of bioplastic formulations using biomolecules recovered from food frying waste will allow to address the challenge of reducing the limitations associated with the high production costs of commercial starch ester derived from pure standards and/or food grade polymers, while promoting the transition to the use of renewable carbon sources avoiding the ones from fossil-based origin, thus aligning with the sustainability domain. In addition to cost reduction, the success of this operation will also promote the development of starch ester-based bioplastics compatible with the extrusion of polymers commonly applied at plastic industry processing, thus ensuring the scale-up of the biomaterials for widespread utilization and promoting their manufacture competitive with the commercial polymers. The valorization and recycling of food frying waste is another advantage associated to this operation, falling within the domain of the circularity of the bioeconomy. This will make possible the reduction of the large quantities of these food industry byproducts, often discarded and/or incinerated, in added-value bioplastics with a low carbon footprint, contributing to the reduction of the environmental impact of both the food and plastic industries while following the challenges of industrial sustainability and decarbonization. For the success of StarchMod4BioPlas, this operation will combine scientific developments in Food Chemistry/Biochemistry and Material Science domains, which are relevant research areas explored at UAveiro. This research will strengthen the idea of sustainable practices by developing ecofriendly bioplastics while adding value to food frying waste resulting from household and restaurant kitchens, as well as on generalized food frying industrial processing. As such, this operation will contribute to improve the quality of life of society while contributing to a decarbonized circular plastic industry.