Post Term: OPEN-BIO

Review on decentralized composting

Posted on by LIFT Team

This deliverable contains:

  • A review on existing standards on decentralized (home and farm) composting;
  • A review on existing practices;
  • A definition of the need for further work and developments.

This deliverable aims to give an overview on the state of affairs in this field.

It contains information with regard to the principles and practices of home compost-ing. Besides also available standard specifications, labelling systems and regulations towards home compostable products are discussed in detail. Next , it explains the principles of farm composting and gives an overview of existing practices. Finally, the report gives a general conclusion and some first ideas for the development of a specification for bio-based materials suitable for decentralized (home and farm) composting.

Review on centralized composting

Posted on by LIFT Team

This deliverable contains a critical review on available standards and practices and an evaluation of benefits shortcomings. Summarizing it can be stated that centralized composting (= industrial composting) can be considered as a reliable technology in order to convert organic waste to compost. Currently, industrial composting is a frequently applied technology in several countries and it is expected that the amount of industrial composted biowaste will further increase in the future.

Review of current methods and standards relevant to marine degradation

Posted on by LIFT Team

The marine realm is the largest ecosystem on our planet. However, to most people “the sea” is an infinite mass of water hidden from their direct view by its shimmering surface. If the fate and possible effect of plastic in the world’s oceans shall be addressed, or the effect of the marine environment on plastic, it is needed to know the framework of conditions that shape this ecosystem. This holds especially true for the development of substantiated testing schemes for the biodegradability of bio-based solid materials. A solid testing scheme for the marine environment does not exist yet. The aim of this deliverable is to provide the back-ground knowledge needed for the definition of an improved and substantiated testing scheme from literature and relevant existing standards. A collection and critical analysis of information on the subject needed to base the subsequent activities on a knowledge background, was executed.

Overview report on functionality testing

Posted on by LIFT Team

Report on functionality testing for demonstrating the functionality of novel bio-based products. Key mechanical properties, key chemical/thermal parameters and additional functionalities that ensure the functionality of the bio-based project over its entire product life were defined. This implies testing before and after use or before and after ageing.

Additionally, specific characteristics of the bio-based products that differ from existing petrochemical products were addressed.

Acceptance factors for bio-based products and related information systems

Posted on by LIFT-Team

To ensure the effectiveness of measures that support the demand of bio-based products work package 9 of the Open-Bio project on “Social Acceptance” targets the identification of key criteria for the market acceptance of bio-based products and related standards and information systems, including labelling options for bio-based products. This report represents the second deliverable of work package 9 and provides an overview of the relevant acceptance factors for the following three target groups: (1) consumers, (2) businesses and (3) public procurement officials. The report summarize the findings from qualitative focus group research and quantitative survey on consumer acceptance and the
overall results of a two-stage Delphi survey targeting the business community and public procurement officials (based on separate survey questionnaires).

Product information list guidelines

Posted on by LIFT-Team

With the development of a Product Information list, the project aims at developing a European product information database of bio-based products that could be used for public procurement (B2P) and communication among producers of bio-based materials (B2B). The database should also be used to promote the uptake of bio-based products in consumer markets (B2C).

EU bio-based label description and strategy

Posted on by LIFT-Team

The objective was to assess the suitability of ecolabel criteria for bio-based products, or in other words, to find out whether the existing
criteria of ecolabels can be applied to bio-based products, whether there are conflicts of harmonization and whether additional criteria can or have to be added in order to adequately label bio-based products. The task concluded that yes, indeed, it was possible to design the criteria of a multi-issue ecolabel in a way that they give credit to the advantages of bio-based products and provide them in an advantage (see D7.3). It was decided not to design a completely new label, but to suggest changes to the existing EU Ecolabel.

The EU Ecolabel and bio-based products

Posted on by LIFT-Team

One of the Open-Bio work packages dealt with the question, whether the EU Ecolabel can be extended to explicitly cover bio-based products, and if yes, how. The objective was to assess the suitability of ecolabel criteria for bio-based products, or in other words, to find out whether the existing criteria of ecolabels can be applied to bio-based products, whether there are conflicts of harmonization and whether additional criteria can or have to be added in order to adequately label bio-based products.

The most important findings of this research is written in this article.

Validated biogasification test

Posted on by LIFT-Team

This report contains a review of existing standards on anaerobic digestion and biogasification of (bio-based) products and the development of a horizontal test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria for (bio-based) products to be compatible with biogasification as end-of-life option. Also an evaluation of benefits and shortcomings with a specific focus on products and components most likely to end up in gasification plants, i.e. bio-based plastics and bio-based packaging materials.

This research has not been limited to Europe, but was carried out on a worldwide basis.

Validated standard for decentralized composting

Posted on by LIFT-Team

The objective of task 6.2 “Validation of decentralized compostability test standards” of the Open-Bio project is the development of a test scheme to evaluate if bio-based products can be disposed in a home composting system without having a negative impact on the produced compost. This implies that no visual contaminants, toxic residuals and/or not-biodegradable constituents may remain present in the compost. This work is a follow-up of work carried out earlier in the project (Deliverable 6.3 “Review on decentralized composting” and Deliverable 6.4 “Draft standard on decentralized composting”).