Fibre Save

Fibre Save aims to upcycle low-grade paper and cardboard waste streams into high-quality, biobased plastics more specifically polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). The project will demonstrate that PHB production is technically, economically, and ecologically feasible for various applications.

Fibre Save brings together partners from Flanders and the Netherlands to build a cross-border value chain for biobased plastics — driving the transition towards a circular economy with lower CO₂ emissions and fossil-free materials.

This partnership covers the entire chain from input to output and focuses on testing bio-based plastic applications in a range of sectors, such as the medical sector, the food packaging sector and the agri- or horticulture sector. In addition, all partners actively engage with companies across the value chain.

On the input side: Renewi supplies paper and cardboard waste for hydrolysis and explores the potential of other low-value waste streams. VPK Paper provides a residual stream that is currently incinerated for conversion into biobased plastics.

On the processing side: the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP) handles the pretreatment and fermentation of fibres and works on optimizing existing technologies for producing PHB biobased plastics.

On the output side: MNEXT, a centre of expertise within Avans University of Applied Sciences, develops and tests bio-based plastic prototypes. Pack4Food connects companies from the food packaging industries to help bring bio-based plastics to market and explore new applications. The Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials Group at Ghent University investigates the potential of PHB for biomedical applications.

This Project involves an investment of over 1.9 million euro of which 50% originates from the European Regional Development Fund (Europees Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling, EFRO) via the cross border cooperation programme Interreg VI Vlaanderen-Nederland.

Interested? Contact us at info@pack4food.be