deep purple

DEEP PURPLE: LAUNCH OF A NEW PROJECT!

Deep Purple is a 48 months H2020 European project (Call: H2020-BBI-JTI-2018). The consortium consists of 14 partners from six European Union countries (France, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Italy and United Kingdom).

WHY DEEP PURPLE?

We lose a lot of valuable resources by not utilizing the nutrients and compounds in sewage and biowaste to its full potential. Up to 138 million tons of bio-waste, coming from wastewater treatment and urban waste management are annually generated in the EU. It is estimated that almost 75% of this waste is sent to incineration or landfilling, which represents a huge environmental and economic cost.

Valid hygienic concerns are the root for this non-usage. But today’s technology is fit for extracting valuable compounds from human sewage (as we do for decades from animals) while ensuring the quality and safety standards needed to use them without concerns.

THE AIM OF DEEP PURPLE

The aim of Deep Purple is to demonstrate the feasibility and to develop a versatile, integrated and flexible Multi-Platform Biorefinery. The creation of bio-based products for several industrial sectors will be done by extraction and recovery of high added-value compounds from Urban Waste Streams:

  • Mixed waste streams
  • Separately collected organic waste
  • Wastewater
  • Organic fraction of sewage sludge

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DEEP PURPLE’S CONCEPT:

To meet the aim, Deep Puple proposes an integrated treatment of urban bio waste in a novel Multi-Platform concept as a key option to implement a synergic treatment of relevant waste streams of urban origin. The beneficial use of bio-waste came from an innovative combination of optimized valorization technologies and novel solutions like Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB)-based wastewater treatment or biogas bioconversion.

These processes will be used to recover resources from urban bio-waste to provide a secure and sustainable supply of biomass feedstock to be further transformed into high added-value products for different industrial sectors.

The concept will be implemented by end-users from several municipalities: Madrid (ES), Toledo (ES), and the Moravia-Silesia Region (CZ). Bio-wastes (organic fraction of the municipal solid waste: 422 t/y, domestic wastewater: 438,000 m3/y) will be transform into high added-value bioproducts: fine chemicals (bio-cosmetics), encapsulated organic fertilizers, bio-packaging and self-repairing construction materials.

PPB- THE PURPLE PHOTOTROPHIC BACTERIUM TURNS OUR WASTE INTO “GOLD”

Deep Purple’s scientific leader Daniel Puyol was working in Australia several years ago and happened to find out about PPB, the purple phototrophic bacteria and its almost magical power of extracting valuable compounds out of wastewater and organic waste. He was amazed and made it his mission to bring the power of PPB to Europe.

Three technological platforms will be thus developed and their joint operation will allow the recovery of bio-wastes:

  • PPB-platform: based on the use of purple phototrophic bacteria, it’s is the core part. It supports the recovery of nutrients and carbon as enriched biomass and bioplastics.
  • Cellulose platform: It will allow to obtain sugar-based building blocks for the production of biobased polyesters and self-repairing construction materials.
  • Biogas platform: It will transform methane into ectoine for further use in cosmetics.

These three platforms will work together as feedstock suppliers for the industry to create organic fertilizers, additives for construction, bioplastic-made products and cosmetics, all from urban waste.

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NATUREPLAST IN DEEP PURPLE

NaturePlast is the leader of Work Package 4: Industrial Application of Materials and Products. NaturePlast is also leader of R&D operations for the formulation and compounds production based on the PHAs and CNFs produced by the Deep Purple pilot. Thanks to its expertise and dedicated equipments, NaturePlast will process and characterize the compounds based on PHAs and CNFs obtained from the biorefinery.

About us: NaturePlast is a french company based in Normandy (IFS-14), specialized in bioplastics. With more than 10 years of experience in this field, the company has the most extensive portfolio of raw materials and biobased and/or biodegradable compounds in Europe. With its daughter company BiopolyNov, they provide support to industrialists from the origin to the industrialisation of their innovative project. Thanks to their R&D expertise acquired during the years, NaturePlast and BiopolyNov are renowned major player in the development and production of formulations for clients and collaborative projects.

deep purple“This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837998. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Bio Based Industries Consortium.”