Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology request
- POD Reference
- TRCH20250123005
- Term of Validity
- 23 January 2025 - 23 January 2026
- Company's Country
- Switzerland
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- A Swiss cleantech start-up specializing in elastic biobased and biodegradable materials is primarily seeking European suppliers of food side-streams or agricultural waste. These suppliers should either be interested in participating in the development of upcycling processes or be willing to sell their side-streams for integration into the start-up’s innovative material portfolio. Commercial agreement or R&D cooperation agreement with the potential supplier is sought.
- Full Description
-
The Swiss start-up transforms otherwise worthless by-products of the food production to produce cutting-edge eco-friendly alternative-plastic granules, seamlessly tailored for diverse sectors including fashion, outdoor equipment, tools, and toys.
Its innovative technology for producing circular, high-quality plastic granulates is based on the use of food by-products as bio-fillers in thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), also known as elastic plastics. A non-exhaustive list of bio-fillers already present in the portfolio are walnuts shells, olive pits, or banana peels.
The company already works together with the industry to get hold of the food waste. However, the decentralized availability of food side streams creates difficulties in effectively obtaining relevant resources at large quantities.
Therefore, the company seeks further suppliers of food by-products or agriculture waste interested to transform these secondary raw materials into a valuable product.
The kind of food by-products the company is interesting in upcycling are:
1. Vegetable oils (e.g. olive oil (waste from oil mills), old frying oil etc.)
2. Shells
3. Fruit pits and stones etc.
4. Second generation feedstock which does not compete with relevant upcycling methods
The cooperation could involve developing the necessary supply chain infrastructure and supporting the sourcing of raw materials. Specifically, while the supplier would oversee the sourcing and extraction of feedstock(s) of interest, any required (pre-)treatment processes—such as drying, milling, roasting, or particle coating— could be coordinated jointly, depending on the terms of the agreement.
Moreover, the agreement could include the development of extraction processes for suitable waste streams to obtain key building blocks for biopolymer synthesis. For example, this might involve starch extraction from second generation feedstock, contributing to sustainable and resource-efficient operations.
The anticipated outcome of this partnership is to establish a consistent, year-round supply of merchandise, with pricing and logistics agreed upon on an annual basis. This approach aims to foster a durable and mutually beneficial collaboration between the parties. - Advantages and Innovations
-
• Valorisation of agri-food by-products and food side stream to produce value-added goods within the principles of the circular economy
• Ecological: addressing the challenge of climate change by helping move away from fossil fuels and avoid the accumulation of plastics in the environment
• Economical: no need of waste disposal - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
- IPR description
-
Specific requirements of the food by-products or agriculture waste are:
• Drying of the product
• Cost max. 1 euro/kg
• Particle size < 100 µm with max 3% higher than 100 µm
• Quantity min. 100 tons/year, with small quantities already rapidly available for trials (e.g. 25kg bags)
• Depending on the type of waste, mixtures of waste cannot be upcycled, hence pre-sorting required
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
The specific area of activity of the partner:
Supplier of food side-streams or agricultural waste or producers thereof interested in their upcycling / valorization.
The tasks to be performed by the partner sought:
Upcycling food waste:
• Collection and sorting of the feedstock of interest
• Preparation of the feedstock -> cleaning, filtration, drying, milling
• Any agreed further treatment steps performed by the partner
• Shipping of treated/prepared material - Type and Size of Partner
- SME <=10
- SME 11-49
- SME 50 - 249
- Big company
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 10003004 - Recycling, Recovery
- 08001005 - Food Technology
- 10002013 - Clean Production / Green Technologies
- 06006002 - Bioplastics
- 10003007 - Waste to Energy /Resource
- Market keywords
- 08001018 - Polymer (plastics) materials
- 08004002 - Chemical and solid material recycling
- 05008002 - Food and feed ingredients
- 08001001 - Plastic fabricators
- Sector Groups Involved
- Energy-Intensive Industries
- Agri-Food
- Targeted countries
- All countries