The BioINSouth project aims to support decision-makers to incorporate considerations of ecological limits into their regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps, when it comes to circular bio-based activities. The project aims to develop guidelines and digital tools, considering the safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) assessment framework, to support the adoption of innovative methodologies to assess environmental impacts in multiple industrial bio-based systems, increasing regional competitiveness and innovation capacity, and contributing to the EU fair & green transition. The project will focus on Southern Mediterranean European Regions with particular attention to regions currently lagging behind, i.e. regions in widening Countries, such as Cyprus, Slovenia, Greece, and Portugal, while the project will see the wider participation of other Southern Mediterranean Countries, including Spain, France and Italy and international cooperation with Turkey and Argentina (in the advisory board). Thanks to the experience of the BIOEAST initiative that BIOEAST HUB CZ brings in, BioINSouth will reach the main objective by establishing regional HUBs bringing together a broad range of stakeholders, including policymakers and public authorities, expert voices, market actors (especially SMEs) and civil society (especially NGOs). The methodology will also seek the collaboration and exchange of best practices among the HUBs within a macro-regional BioINSouth Network and with international organisations. The concept will be demonstrated in 8 regions in the partners’ Countries, under a fully transferable case-study approach, that can be replicated throughout other Southern European Regions after the end of the project.

SOURCE will develop, improve and demonstrate in an industrially relevant environment economically and environmentally viable routes for producing battery-grade synthetic graphite for high-performance anodes. SOURCE will first enable the production of carbon precursors from heterogeneous raw material sources, including alternative sustainable petroleum feedstocks, bio-waste and black mass from recycled batteries, to reduce the current dependence of synthetic graphite from petroleum-based coke. Sustainable technologies to transform these materials into carbon feedstock will be demonstrated at TRL6/7. Additionally, low-temperature graphitization techniques (30% potential reduction of the energy consumption and production cost. Innovative high-performance Carbon@graphite, Si@graphite, and graphene@graphite coatings and anode (capacity > 350 mAh/g) will be formulated, fabricated, tested and validated in 1Ah prototype pouch cells at TRL7. Recycling processes to recover graphite at low cost with >90% purity from LiB EoL batteries and >98% purity from anode production scrap will be demonstrated at TRL7. LCA and LCC analysis will be delivered to accurately assess the sustainability of SOURCE synthetic graphite and value chain defining the best routes to ensure economic and environmental sustainability. SOURCE brings together key EU industries with main businesses in graphite precursors and synthetic graphite production, and advanced anode formulation, supported by EU leading RTOs forming the complete value chain to produce high quality synthetic graphite in a sustainable and economic way. SOURCE achievements will increase EU competitiveness and independence from foreign graphite suppliers and anode manufacturers. SOURCE technologies and materials will be directly exploited by its top-level industrial partners with a direct market presence and already established commercial channels, ensuring SOURCE value chain sustainability.