UNLOCK advances in the treatment of agri-food waste for reuse in plastics

CIDETEC Surface Engineering is coordinating this project, which will build a demonstration plant to treat and recover feathers from poultry waste

The UNLOCK project, coordinated by CIDETEC Surface Engineering, aims to set up a value chain that integrates poultry waste. Once treated, such waste can be used to produce a range of biodegradable plastic products for agricultural purposes: geotextiles, seedbed trays, mulch films, and foam for hydroponic crops.

A year and a half on from the start of the project, the follow-up meeting was held at the AIMPLAS Institute in Valencia on 9th and 10th November. The project has included in-depth analysis of the poultry industry, identifying the main challenges and solutions for the proposed new value chains.

Feather processing has now moved into the scaling-up phase, including the construction of a demonstration plant in Poland for waste treatment. Poultry feathers have now been successfully processed to produce biodegradable plastics with very promising results.

UNLOCK aims to revolutionise the food and agricultural industry with a value proposition that could eliminate plastic waste.

All this information is set out in a range of public deliverables accessible through the project website: unlock-project.eu

Grant Agreement Nº: 101023306