Professor Assunta Marrocchi, from the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, and Professor Ombretta Marconi, from the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Perugia and Director of the Research Centre for Brewing Excellence (CERB), have been awarded around 4.8 million euros in funding for the Polymeer project.
Conceived by professors in Perugia, Italy, Polymeer's aim is to develop new polymers, copolymers and polymer blends to replace traditional plastics, using the residue of spent grains (mash residue consisting of malt husks and other parts for which saccharification does not take place, used as feed) left over from beer production. World production of spent grains is close to 40 million tons per year, of which 8 million tons are produced in Europe. The management of this by-product is problematic due to its abundance, high moisture content and high microbial load, which drastically reduce its shelf life.
The project aims at innovation and sustainability by adding value to beer grains and transforming them into new materials, inherently recyclable and/or biodegradable, designed to meet specific technical requirements for different application sectors: the agricultural sector, where resistance to UV degradation, barrier properties and biodegradability in soil are required; and the textile sector for the automotive industry; packaging for the safe transport and handling of products - which can be used in the beer supply chain itself, but also in all sectors where packaging is used - where specific properties such as durability, strength and elasticity are required; and the textile sector for the automotive industry, where flame retardant and antimicrobial properties, UV resistance, hydrophobicity and oleophobicity are required.
The four-year project will start next September and will involve 13 partners, including universities, research and technology centres and companies, coordinated by the University of Perugia, including La Sapienza University of Rome, Universiteit Twente (Netherlands), Birra Peroni, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft for Applied Research (Germany).
