Athlone Institute of Technology
Materials Research Institute
Dublin Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
Ireland
BioICEP
Contact
The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) is a pan European-Chinese collaboration formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. Different mixed plastic pollution environments are represented, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations. A number of innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting mixed plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable.
Our approach is The Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) consortium is a pan European-Chinese collaborative formed to reduce the burden of plastic waste in the environment. The countries have been selected to represent different mixed plastic pollution environments, with specific partners selected which have the expertise and facilities to carry out the necessary technical innovations. Three innovative booster technologies are at the core of this solution accentuating, expediting, and augmenting plastics degradation to levels far in excess of those current achievable. Our approach is a triple-action depolymerisation system where plastic waste will be broken down in three consecutive processes:
1) mechano-biochemical disintegration processes, including a new proprietary sonic-green-chemical technology to reduce the polymer molecular weight of the base polymer to make it amenable to biodegradation;
2) biocatalytic digestion, with enzymes enhanced through a range of innovative techniques including accelerated screening through novel fluorescent sensor and directed evolution; and
3) microbial consortia developed from best in class single microbial strains, which combined leads to highly efficient degradation of mixed plastic waste streams. The outputs from this degradation process will be used as building blocks for new polymers or other bioproducts to enable a new plastic waste-based circular economy.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870292.
Contact
Dr Margaret Brennan Fournet
BioICEP
Principal Investigator, Lecturer & EU Project Coordinator
mfournet@ait.ie
Dr Margaret Fournet is co-ordinating AIT’s new flagship EU-China Horizon 2020 project spearheading the clean-up of the global plastic waste burden. Dr Fournet is leading a team of 15 partners spanning 9 different countries on the “BioInnovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics” (BioICEP), which is dedicated to the bioconversion of waste plastics into sustainable plastics for the future.
As an experienced and inspiring Physics Lecturer with 15 years demonstrated delivery of world-class collaborative research projects and outstanding student performances, Dr Fournet has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally. Dr Fournet received a PhD from the School of Physics Trinity College Dublin in 2002 and joined the Polymer Technologies team at AIT in 2017
Dr Fournet’s research is centred on tailored green technologies designed to overcome global challenges. Bio-inspired sustainable plastics and biomimetic medical implants for enhanced regenerative health are integral parts of her research focus.Three major strands of her research are:
- Bio-mimicking technologies for sustainability and enhanced regeneration;
- Innovative technologies accentuating, expediting, and augmenting plastics degradation;
- New hybrid bioplastics to provide the plastics of the future which operate in tandem with the natural environment.
In the new era of awareness of the fragility of the natural world and the dependence of global economies and societies on environmental wellbeing, Dr Fournet works closely with consumers, industry and policy makers to foster and implement opportunities to deliver of new avenues to a more sustainable world.