Generalitat Valenciana, through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, is financing the development of an innovation project. Produce biodegradable and sustainable packaging from straw from rice farming In Valencia’s Albufera. Thus, it is aimed not only to “use” these agricultural wastes, but also to prevent waste. gas emissions from burning that waste each autumn.
Under the name BIOPLA, this project is coordinated with European funding by the Sociedad de Agricultores de la Vega (SAV) in collaboration with the companies Prime Biopolymers, Viromii and the Institute of Plastic Technologies Aimplas.
Thanks to this initiative, a “Innovative solution” that will put an end to the incineration of this waste, The Autonomous Administration highlights a practice that has “adverse consequences” for people with respiratory problems and increases air pollution levels in areas adjacent to Lake Albufera.
cremation It tries to prevent the straw from accumulating and rotting in the fields during the rainy season, This “adversely affects” the quality of the water in the wetland and causes the death of “large numbers” of fish. So far, different ways to remove these agricultural residues have been investigated, but the high economic cost of this process has made it difficult to implement.
Add economic value to rice straw
BIOPLA’s goal within the circular economy framework: Adding economic value to rice straw has the capacity to cover the recovery cost. For this reason, it is recommended to use these wastes as raw materials in the production of more environmentally friendly bioplastics than those produced using fossil resources.
The project is not just about designing the development and approval of the treatment. plant waste to produce this product with high added value and multiple industrial applications.and also provides all necessary logistics services for its collection and storage. In short, it is about demonstrating the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the technology on a semi-industrial scale.
The conversion of these agricultural wastes into bioplastic is carried out after the following processes: Subjecting vegetable waste to different processesIt involves crushing the stems, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation processes to obtain lactic acid and its subsequent conversion to polylactic acid, known by its English abbreviation PLA.
PLA represents approximately 40% of all biodegradable polymers and It remains the most used bioplastic on the marketWith an increasing demand every year. This type of material actually represents a “sustainable alternative” to traditional plastics due to its ease of decomposition and lower environmental impact.
Since this initiative started a year agoThe technical team handled the logistics and performed laboratory tests to verify the most effective treatments for polylactic acid production. With the results obtained, SAV will scale the process to typical volumes of a pilot plant Continuing the optimization of this biological process.
In addition to coordinating the project, SAV is the partner responsible for the supply and storage of straw as well as the semi-industrial conversion process; however, it cooperates with three other specialized organizations in the conduct of BIOPLA.
For this reason, Aimplas provides technical know-how on fermentation processes and conditions Prime Biopolymers manages the lactic acid polymerization step for bioplastic production and contributes to the study of the transformation process on an industrial scale; Viromii, on the other hand, develops agricultural waste management analysis in the PLA market.
The initiative is in line with the conclusions of the Circular Economy expert committee, which advocates the design of innovations that promote AVI and allow the development of more sustainable consumer goods as well as the utilization of waste. Policies promoted by the European Commission in this regard.
Similarly, BIOPLA is part of the main axes of the Valencian Community’s Smart Specialization Strategy S3, coordinated by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism.
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Contact address of the environmental department:[email protected]