{"id":122051,"date":"2023-02-06T07:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T06:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=122051"},"modified":"2023-02-01T15:14:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T14:14:13","slug":"bioplastics-project-shows-juicy-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/bioplastics-project-shows-juicy-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Bioplastics project shows juicy results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\"Uuvipak's
Uuvipak’s next-generation packaging products \u00a9 Uuvipak<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A project borne from The University of Queensland\u2019s\u00a0Agri-Food Innovation Alliance<\/a>\u00a0(AFIA) Industry Kickstarter grant program could prevent 30,000 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean per year.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first round project, led by UQ\u2019s\u00a0Dr Vassilis Kontogiorgos<\/a>, and a collaborative effort with\u00a0Uuvipak<\/a>, aims to lower the use of single-use plastics by improving the functional properties of citrus peels for use as a bioplastic material.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Kontogiorgos said the project specifically looked for ways of deodorising raw material and removing qualities that make it susceptible to water damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were able to successfully deodorise and remove water-soluble compounds in citrus peels while maintaining the mechanical properties necessary for good quality bioplastic products,\u201d he said.<\/p>

\u201cThis is a significant finding, as most of the food waste sourced for this sort of project often has a very strong odour, meaning its application is limited.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThis has the potential to transform the single-use plastic industry, which contributes an enormous amount of waste to our landfills each year, globally.<\/p>

\u201cPartnering with Uuvipak has been a wonderful experience and is a great example of AFIA\u2019s Kickstarter program at work, partnering our leading researchers at UQ with small to medium size organisations with big, innovative ideas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Uuvipak
Uuvipak co-founders Andy Epifani (left) and Dr Shafali Gupta (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Co-founder and co-CEO of Uuvipak, Dr Shafali Gupta said the collaborative effort brings them one step closer to realising their vision of mass production of bioplastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur aim is to provide sustainable alternatives for single-use plastics by upcycling food waste,\u201d Dr Gupta said.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWith a better understanding of how to deodorise this food waste, we can find smarter and cleaner ways to use it for products such as bowls, cups, forks, spoons.<\/p>

\u201cThis project has massive potential if we are able to convert the research we carried out with UQ to an industrial scale, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re looking next.<\/p>

\u201cBy capturing just 20 per cent of the Australian market with one of our products, we will be able to take the equivalent of 30,000 cars off the road per year.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt would offset 30,000 tonnes of plastic which enters the ocean every year.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

AFIA is accepting expressions of interest for the second round of its Industry Kickstarter grant program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open to small to medium enterprises throughout southeast Queensland, these grants help partner academics with industry to conduct collaborative research with real impact, that will potentially leverage further external funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UQ AFIA Director Professor Melissa Fitzgerald<\/a> said significant funding is on offer this year, as UQ aims to broaden its reach within the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really encouraging to see some very interesting ideas already coming through for the second round of funding,\u201d Professor Fitzgerald said.<\/p>

\u201cThis year, we\u2019re hoping to see more agricultural technology, supply chain, food manufacturing and processing SME organisations jump on board.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Professor Fitzgerald said the first funding round in 2022 was highly successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe collaborative bioplastics project with Uuvipak bioplastics will have a real impact once it\u2019s out in the world.<\/p>

\u201cThis is just one of the projects we\u2019re really excited about that has the potential to make a real, tangible difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the program and deadlines, or to download forms, head to the AFIA website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expressions of interest for round two of this program close Wednesday 1 February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Queensland acknowledges the $2.5 million contribution made by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment under the Strategic University Reform Fund (SURF) to support the activities conducted by the UQ Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A project borne from The University of Queensland\u2019s\u00a0Agri-Food Innovation Alliance\u00a0(AFIA) Industry Kickstarter grant program could prevent 30,000 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean per year.\u00a0 The first round project, led by UQ\u2019s\u00a0Dr Vassilis Kontogiorgos, and a collaborative effort with\u00a0Uuvipak, aims to lower the use of single-use plastics by improving the functional properties of citrus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The first round project in collaborative effort with Uuvipak aims to lower the use of single-use plastics by improving the functional properties of citrus peels for use as a bioplastic material","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,5842,5847,11575],"supplier":[1299,21708],"class_list":["post-122051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-biomass","tag-bioplastics","tag-marinelitter","supplier-university-of-queensland-australien","supplier-uuvipak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122051"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=122051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}