Waste sugar recycling project secures EU funding

A European consortium has secured funding for an innovative project to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of generating waste sugars derived from household waste and producing a range of high-performance bio-based materials and products.

The VAMOS (Value Added Materials from Organic Waste Sugars) project has received almost €7 million from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

Bringing together experts from six countries, the three-year project will produce second-generation sugars from paper- and card-based materials from municipal solid waste (MSW) or waste rejected from sorting and recycling processes. The waste-derived sugar will be used to produce a range of bio-based products for non-food applications in the construction, textile, furnishings and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors, reducing reliance on first-generation agricultural sources such as sugar cane or sugar beet.

Sugar is one of the most essential raw materials for industrial bioprocessing supply chains. Addressing the challenges associated with second-generation sugars, such as higher dilution and lower purity rates, would establish a fresh, sustainable and renewable resource for the industrial bioprocessing sector.

In the consortium are five UK-based companies, two German companies and one each from Ireland, Italy, Austria and Denmark.

The project aims to reduce the levels of waste being sent to landfill and environmental plastic pollution levels, amongst other targets.

“Securing this important EU funding enables us to take our promising pilot-scale work over the last five years to the next stage and demonstrate its commercial viability as an economically and environmentally sustainable process,” said Nick Thompson, Managing Director of consortium member Fiberight.

Due to be completed by August 2022, the VAMOS project expects to demonstrate the potential for new markets by converting the organic fraction of waste normally destined for landfill into bioproducts.

Image: The VAMOS project expects to demonstrate the potential for new markets by converting the organic fraction of waste normally destined for landfill into bioproducts. Source: VAMOS.