Municipal waste

Turning smelly waste into green chemicals and plastics

Bacteria and microorganisms Biological systems Cells Enzymes and proteins Fermentation Genes and genomes Synthetic biology

Researchers and companies enrolled in a new international project called DAFIA will turn fish waste and organic household rubbish into high value products such as plastic packages, edible coatings and fire-retardant additives.

The aim of this new 4-year project called DAFIA is to turn organic household rubbish and fish waste into higher value products.

These products can be for instance dicarboxylic acids and diamines, which can undergo further processing and conversion into polyamides and polyesters, and also flame-retardants and edible coatings.

The partners will develop new microbial strains and enzymatic and chemical processes for conversion of waste feedstocks into the target products.

Technical University of Denmark, DTU, is part of the DAFIA-consortium, and will be focusing on developing microbial processes:

“We will create novel yeast cell factories that can convert the organic components of municipal waste into organic acids. Yeast strains are widely used in industrial-scale fermentations, particularly for bioethanol production. In this project we will expand their metabolic capabilities to efficiently uptake the carbon from the waste and to convert it into the acid of choice,” says Senior Scientist Irina Borodina from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at DTU.

Read more about the project: http://www.dafia-project.eu/

The DAFIA Consortium

  • Aimplas - Asociacion de Investigacion de Materiales Plasticos y Conexas, Spain (coordinator)
  • Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Sintef Fiskeri og Havbruk AS, Norway
  • Stiftelsen Sintef, Norway
  • Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark
  • Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique Cnrs, France
  • Nutrimar AS, Norway
  • Innovacio i Recerca Industrial i Sostenible SL, Spain
  • Biotrend - Inovacao e Engenharia em Biotecnologia SA, Portugal
  • Daren Laboratories & Scientific Consultants Ltd, Israel
  • Mine Plastik Endustriyel Urunler Ve Sert Maden Kimya Limited Sirketi, Tyrkey
  • Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant VZW, Belgium
  • Biopolis SL, Spain
  • Arkema France, France
  • The National Non-Food Crops Centre, UK