Enzycle celebrated the achievements of the last years at the final event in Madrid

Author: Olivia Laggner

The three BBI-JU-funded projects Enzycle, Bizente and Recover are coming to an end. The complementarities and synergies of the projects were presented once again at the joint closing event “Three bio paths, one solution for plastics”, which took place on April 9 and 10 2024 in Madrid. At this final event, the results achieved in the project were presented, but also discussed further with “externals”: Speakers from industry, politics and other synergetic EU projects provided valuable insights and supported networking. Lively discussions were held during the breaks, on the city tour and over dinner, which will hopefully lay the foundations for future collaboration. In total, around 90 experts from the field of enzymatic plastics recycling took part in the event, representing 9 Horizon projects, 17 industrial companies and 3 political institutions and funding bodies.

After an appreciative opening speech by project officer Chloe Johnsson, project coordinators Juan Antonio Tamayo Ramos (ENZYCLE), Marta Redrado Notivoli (BIZENTE) and Maria Jose Lopez (RECOVER) presented the results achieved over the last four years. The interactive World Café invited participants to interact and engage in a lively exchange between the experts. The participants were divided into small groups and discussed the topics “Enzymes”, “Recycling processes” and “Upcycling opportunities” in 15-minute episodes and then switched groups. The hosts of the groups presented their conclusions in a final plenary session. In the next session, Alain Marty (CARBIOS), Susana Quiles (ACCIONA) and Marta Machado (ENTOGREEN) gave insights into the industry. The first day ended with a city tour of Madrid and a delicious dinner.

On the second day, we started with the session Future Perspectives – a bridge to politics and policy. Speakers Samuele Ambrosetti from the Bio-based Industries Consortium, David Newman from the European Bioeconomy Bureau and Roberto Horcajada from EuroFunding spoke about the policies and strategies their institutions are pursuing, and David Newman in particular emphasized the urgent changes we need in the use of plastics and recycling strategies to mitigate the terrible effects of climate change. The final session of the event, the Synergy session, was full of interesting questions from the audience and ongoing discussions during the lunch break. The projects UPLIFT (presented by Christiano Varrone), FUTURENZYME (presented by Manuel Ferrer), REVOLUZION (presented by Auxi Prieto), RADICALZ (presented by Aurelio Hidalgo) and PRESERVE (presented by Kristina Eissenberger) presented a lot of enzyme power and upcycling of bioplastics.

If society wants to continue using plastic but at the same time not destroy our nature, we urgently need a circular solution. The three projects ENZYCLE, BIZENTE and RECOVER, as well as many others presented at this conference, form the basis for such a solution and now need to be brought to market quickly.

Picture credits: BIZENTE