There is a global need, from sustainability, food security and also health perspective, to increase dietary intake of plant protein. Side-streams from wheat and rice processing offer large under-exploited raw material potential, and we will work throughout the agro-industrial value chain to valorise that. The main aim of PROMINENT is to develop techno-economically and environmentally viable protein-based ingredients and foods from cereal processing side streams. We will concentrate on novel fractionation and extraction technologies, such as bioprocessing, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) -extraction, thermo-mechanical technologies, wet and dry fractionation, and expanded bed adsorption as well as their combinations as novel hybrid processing technologies. A strong focus will be in using enzymatic and thermo-mechanical methods to improve techno-functional and sensory properties of protein ingredients to reach desirable taste and texture in food applications. Pasta, biscuit, cake and beverage food models are the main end product categories, where new protein ingredients will be used as dietary protein source and act as performance proteins to deliver similar techno-functional and sensory properties to animal proteins. We will also assess the safety, quality, techno-economical feasibility, sustainability and market potential of the new protein ingredients and foods, and design strategies for marketing, dissemination, and exploitation of innovations. The project will support the economic growth, resource efficiency and sustainability of the European agro-food industry, and open new market opportunities by generating new plant protein ingredients obtained from cereal processing side streams as well as new products for the consumer food market.

The continuing demand for plastic products, the lack of appropriate recycling and the ubiquitous pollution of the environment with plastic waste pose a global challenge. An ambitious vision and considerable efforts are required to change the traditional value chain of plastics to a sustainable one, based on biodegradable plastics. In MIX-UP, plastic mixtures with five of the top six fossil-based recalcitrant plastics (PP, PE, PUR, PET, and PS), along with upcoming biodegradable plastics such as PLA and PHA, will be used as feedstock for microbial transformations, thereby generating a workflow that increases the recycling quota and adds value to poorly recycled plastics waste streams. Successive controlled enzymatic and microbial degradation of mechanically pre-treated plastics waste will be combined with subsequent microbial conversion to value-added chemicals and polymers by mixed cultures. We will optimize known plastics-degrading enzymes for high specific binding capacities, stability, and catalytic efficacy towards a broad spectrum of plastics polymers under high salt and temperature conditions by integrated protein engineering, and also isolate novel enzymes with activities on recalcitrant polymers. MIX-UP will also optimize the production of enzymes and formulate enzyme cocktails tailored to specific waste streams. Implementation of these enzymes, both in vitro and in vivo, enables stable self-sustaining microbiomes to convert the released plastic monomers selectively into at least six value-added products, key building blocks, and biomass. Any remaining material recalcitrant to enzymatic activity will be recirculated into the process after a physico-chemical treatment. The Chinese-European MIX-UP is a multidisciplinary and industry-driven consortium that addresses the market need for novel sustainable routes to valorise plastics waste streams. MIX-UP realises a circular (bio)-economy and could be a viable alternative for mechanical and chemical recycling.

Bio-LUSH addresses a growing need and demand to utilize underexploited biomass feedstocks for sustainable and high-quality fibre extraction. Within the project, we will establish innovative processes for optimal biomass refining and fibrillation to nanoscale to convert obtained sustainable fibres into functional biobased materials. Along with hemp hurd and forest residues, selection of other green underexplored biomass feedstocks (nettle and seagrasses) was based on availability in Europe as well as ecological benefits such as utilization of marginal lands, biodiversity protection and without competing with food production. Also, traditional breeding through crosses will be used to improve the agronomical and fiber yield properties of the identified “novel crops”. Certification procedures and a standardization roadmap will be established in a form of nanocellulose quality index to assure effective benchmarking within the obtained (nano)fibres. Moreover, the results of advanced characterization of feedstock, fibers and biobased products will be collected in dataset to employ machine learning tools to design biobased materials based on fibres properties. We will demonstrate the biomass processing and manufacturing (both at TRL5) of biobased products such as edible packaging, antibacterial textiles and 3D printable bio(nano)composite filaments for impact resistant car interior products. The Bio-LUSH consortium brings together actors from the entire value chain, comprised of 12 partners from 8 countries including 7 industry partners (3 SMEs, 4 LEs), who will ensure that the developed solutions will be industrially viable (environmentally, economically, socially). Bio-LUSH includes activities on enhancement of social acceptance of the materials to facilitate the route to market, which will be supported by a dedicated business plan. Integration of Agro sector/farmer communities and access to EU feedstock is ensured through advisory board member, Bast Fibre Technology.

The ‘SECRETERS’ partnership aims to bring about a step change in the production of recombinant proteins, particularly Biotherapeutics and Industrial Enzymes. Both are critical products for the EU biotechnology sector, with combined markets in excess of $140 billion p.a.; the former are essential for the treatment of major diseases whereas the latter permeate every aspect of our daily life. Many proteins in these categories pose severe problems in production, especially disulphide-bonded proteins and new format 'difficult-to-express' proteins. SECRETERS will train a team of 15 ESRs to develop a new generation of super-producing microbial production hosts, including Escherichia coli, Bacillus species and the yeast Pichia pastoris. The project capitalises on a series of recent innovations and involves close collaboration between 5 academic Beneficiaries, who provide world-leading expertise in redox chemistry, synthetic biology and protein expression, and 5 non-academic Beneficiaries, who include some of the world's premier biotherapeutic and industrial enzyme companies. It will enable the biotherapeutics industry to produce challenging medicines at lower costs, resulting in new drugs and wider patient access, and allow the enzymes industry to deliver a range of powerful new products. SECRETERS will equip ESRs with the interdisciplinary and intersectoral skills required to thrive in these industries, with quality assurance systems embedded throughout the programme and a commitment to a wide-ranging dissemination/outreach programme. Based on a responsible innovation approach, with clear foci on research and entrepreneurial training, SECRETERS will deliver a team of superbly-trained scientists, poised to engage in some of Europe's most important biotechnology sectors.