The UPCYCLE project, funded by Horizon Europe under the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA), officially kicked off with a two-day meeting in Gent, Belgium. Coordinated by Aalborg University (Denmark), the project brings together 19 partners from 12 countries to develop novel circular value chains that convert non-recyclable plastic waste into highly recyclable and non-persistent packaging materials.

With more than 460 million tonnes of plastics produced annually worldwide, only 9 % is effectively recycled, while plastic packaging accounts for 40 % of demand and 60 % of plastic waste in Europe. Most packaging is used once, with two-thirds discarded within a year, often relying on complex or contaminated plastic streams that persist in the environment for centuries.

UPCYCLE aims to tackle these challenges head-on by developing novel circular value chains that convert today’s non-recyclable plastic waste into highly recyclable and non-persistent packaging materials. By doing so, the project will reduce reliance on incineration and landfill, support EU circular economy goals, and create a credible pathway toward non-persistent, safe, and sustainable plastics.

Building on the success of the H2020 UPLIFT project, UPCYCLE advances to demonstration scale, integrating Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design principles, AI-powered process intensification, smart polymerisation strategies, and eco-design approaches. Target applications include fresh food flexible packaging, short-lifetime deli packaging, beverage bottles, and personal care packaging—all sectors where recyclability and end-of-life performance are critical.

AIMPLAS role in the project

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, plays a central role in the project by bridging the gap between polymer research and real-world packaging applications. The centre is developing new polyesters and copolyesters—such as PEF, PBAF, and PLA blends—through tailored formulations and pilot-scale production using advanced technologies including reactive extrusion, compounding, injection moulding, and blow moulding. AIMPLAS also leads the evaluation of how these materials behave at the end of their life, conducting biodegradation modelling, compostability testing (industrial and home), environmental assessments in soil, freshwater and marine settings, and multi-cycle mechanical recycling trials. Additionally, AIMPLAS contributes to defining end-user requirements, market analysis, and regulatory compliance, ensuring that UPCYCLE’s materials are not only innovative but also safe, scalable, and market ready.

The UPCYCLE consortium includes Aalborg University, DTU, RWTH Aachen University, University College Dublin, Lund University, BOKU, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Leibniz Institute – Hans Knoll Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, AIMPLAS, Bioplastech, TECNARO, BIO-MI, EVYAP, EROSKI, PACK4FOOD, AEIMIS, ECO Imagination, and Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant. This multidisciplinary team combines expertise across the entire plastics value chain—from waste collection and depolymerisation to polymer design, formulation, demonstration, and market deployment.

By 2029, UPCYCLE aims to deliver packaging materials that are highly recyclable, non-persistent, and biodegradable where appropriate, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 % compared to current bioplastics. These innovations will support EU strategies on plastics, the Single-Use Plastics Directive, and the Circular Economy Action Plan.

The aim is to be able to process them using conventional technologies so that they can be used in applications that are currently occupied by petroleum-derived plastics.
The companies Venvirotech and ENPLAST are collaborating with the Plastics Technology Centre (AIMPLAS) in this research.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biocompatible and biodegradable plastics in soil and marine environments synthesised by a wide variety of microorganisms, which share very similar characteristics with plastics of petrochemical origin. The most recent studies focus on the search for cheaper alternative substrates, such as agro-industrial waste or industrial by-products, and on extraction strategies to reduce product costs. In this way, the aim is to facilitate their incorporation into a market dominated by petroleum-based plastics. The most commercialised PHAs have certain limitations to be processed by conventional technologies, so one of the objectives is to optimise them so that they can be used in different applications within the plastics industry, as well as to scale up their production and supply companies in the sector.

In this context, the COM4PHA project is committed to developing new formulations of bioplastics based on the PHAs group to promote new lines of product development based on these biodegradable materials. In particular, the project is working on formulations based on the PHBV copolymer for applications in the packaging and agriculture sector, using innovative processing technologies for this type of polymer. These technologies include hollow-body blown extrusion for bottles and the application of the copolymer as a coating on paper substrates and agricultural mulch films.

The overall objective of the project is also to optimise the synthesis of the material and favour the scaling up of larger quantities to be able to offer PHBV at an industrial level and reach certain applications that are currently occupied by conventional materials.
The biotechnology company Venvirotech, which specialises in the transformation of organic waste through a proprietary technology that uses bacteria to produce PHA bioplastics, is coordinating this project. The company ENPLAST, a specialist in the creation and manufacture of all types of plastic packaging, is also participating in the project and will be responsible for validating the materials developed. As a link between the two companies, AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is in charge of the new PHA formulations, both for the production of packaging and for the formulation of coatings.

The new formulations for cosmetic packaging will be biodegradable and compostable and will comply with the established requirements, which will reduce their environmental impact and allow a better acceptance of the product by the market. This innovation may also be of interest to other processors and end-users in the food and beverage sector, in addition to cosmetics.

For coating formulations in the paper and agricultural sectors, developments will improve product quality and extend shelf life. The results can be exploited in the packaging sector, and applied to those where barrier properties are required, such as the food and cosmetics sectors. In the agricultural sector, they will be applied in mulch films to maintain crop quality based on the barrier and antimicrobial properties of the coating.

The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Next Generation funds of the European Union are financing this action.