A European Union-funded research initiative has successfully demonstrated that brewery waste can be converted into bioplastics suitable for packaging.
The BioSupPack project, which ran for five years, aimed to develop and validate polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) materials and production methods as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics.
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Coordinated by Spain’s AIMPLAS technology centre, the project involved 18 partner organisations and secured €7.6m ($8.7m) from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.
Researchers scaled up biorefinery processes to produce biobased materials for rigid packaging, delivering prototypes described as nearly market-ready.
A key achievement was a bioprocess using plasma pretreatment and microbial fermentation to convert spent brewery grains into high-purity polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB).
The method has reached a technology readiness level suitable for industrial settings.
The project also developed biobased and biodegradable plastisol coatings for paperboard and textiles, now ready for licensing.
Additionally, the consortium created industrially compostable fibre-based packaging with barrier properties comparable to fossil-based plastics, suitable for applications such as ice cream containers.
One partner produced PHB-based materials optimised for rigid packaging. These are made from renewable waste streams, are fully biodegradable and recyclable, and have achieved a readiness level for industrial-scale production.
A new sorting prototype will help recover packaging waste for enzymatic recycling, a process the project confirmed as effective for end-of-life management.
Project results are now available to industry stakeholders across multiple sectors.
Last year, the project previously announced the development of a compostable, renewable material from brewers’ spent grain to replace conventional polyolefins.
Separately, another initiative involving distilleries and universities is working on compostable packaging from distillery by-products.
