Convert plant oils and fats into safe high-added-value products for various applications including food and personal care

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

Plant oils and fats are a promising feedstock for high-value products with new functionalities and properties for applications in food, personal care, cosmetics and in the chemical industry, among others. However, current processing conditions for refining the feedstock can cause undesired or toxic impurities and possibly also potentially carcinogenic compounds¹ Also, current refining processes have either a high energy demand or result in high oil losses, while the side streams bring in low value.

The specific challenge is to refine plant oils and fats at milder conditions, with high yields and delivering safe, high quality products.

¹ Such as 3-monochloropropane diol and its fatty acid esters, see EFSA CONTAM Panel (EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain). Scientific Opinion on the update of the risk assessment on 3-monochloropropane diol and its fatty acid esters. EFSA Journal 2018;16(1):5083, 48 pp. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5083

Validate applicable innovative technologies to refine plant oils and fats at milder conditions than current practices, resulting in high yields of the desired high-value products with new functions and properties, without the formation of genotoxic and potentially carcinogenic compounds.

This topic is about plant oils and fats originating from side streams of main processes, thus it excludes virgin plant oils and fats as feedstock. The scope also excludes fuels as the main product.

Proposals should also develop new or improved valorisation routes for side streams and co-products resulting from the plant oils extraction phase to achieve a maximally possible added value.

Proposals should address all requirements for RIA as shown in Table 3 of the Annual Work plan 2019 .

The technology readiness level (TRL) at the end of the project should be 4-5 for the bio-based value chain in question. Proposals should clearly state the starting and end TRLs of the key technology or technologies targeted in the project.

Industry participation in the project would be considered as an added value because it can play a supportive role to demonstrate the potential for integrating the developed concepts and technologies into current industrial landscapes or existing plants so they can be deployed more quickly and scaled up to apply industry-wide.

INDICATIVE FUNDING:

It is considered that proposals requesting a contribution of between EUR 2 million and EUR 5 million would be able to address this specific challenge appropriately. However, this does not preclude the submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

EXPECTED IMPACTS LINKED TO BBI JU KPIS:

▪ contribute to KPI 1 – create at least one new cross-sector interconnection in the bio-based economy;

▪ contribute to KPI 2 – set the basis for at least one new bio-based value chain;

▪ contribute to KPI 5 – validate at least one new bio-based material;

▪ contribute to KPI 8 – validate at least one new and improved processing technology reflecting the ‘TRL gain’ since the start of the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:

▪ decrease the amount of plant oils and fats currently diverted to disposal;

▪ increase the use of biomass for bio-based products while decreasing the use of biomass for energy;

▪ increase the overall resource efficiency;

▪ reduce quantities of undesired or toxic residues as compared with the existing processes;

▪ reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS:

▪ increase the added value of bio-based products with high oil and fat content;

▪ increase income and business opportunities for stakeholders and actors (including primary producers) in the bio-based sectors, in particular in the oleochemistry industries.

SOCIAL IMPACTS:

▪ create new job opportunities in the bio-based sector, particularly in the oleochemistry sector.

TYPE OF ACTION: Research and innovation action.

Socio-economic science and humanities
Cross-cutting Key-Enabling Technologies (KETs)