Research projects

Quelle: IfBB

Current social developments and climate change are also presenting new challenges for agriculture. More and more people are opting for a vegetarian or vegan diet. As a result, demand for meat substitutes has risen enormously in recent years. Legumes play a major role here, as they serve as raw materials for meat substitute production, milk substitutes or as flour for pasta and baked goods.

The ‘Plasma4Bio2K’ research project aims to develop products for oral hygiene, such as a toothbrush or toothbrush head, made from bio-based materials.
The aim is to offer environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional fossil-based plastics such as PP, PET, PE and PA. Instead, bio-based plastics made from renewable raw materials such as castor oil, sugar cane, maize or cellulose are to be used and three different models with different combinations of Bio-PP, Bio-PET, Bio-TPE and Bio-PE are to be developed.

Quelle: Timo Klostermeier / pixelio.de

In industrial food production in Germany, the processing of eggs results in large quantities of eggshells, which to date have only been insufficiently utilised and are instead disposed of. The project focuses on the customised processing and modification of eggshell waste into a valuable raw material that can be used as a multifunctional additive and filler in the plastics industry.

Source: IfBB
Source: IfBB

The aim of the SpaPlast project is to contribute to a circular, sustainable bioeconomy for application-related product development. To this end, the project is investigating the extent to which asparagus peels, which are produced in large quantities during the industrial processing of asparagus, can serve as fillers for biocomposite materials. The main focus is on creating the technical prerequisites for the use of biogenic residues.

Quelle: IfBB

In the wake of rewetted peatlands and the need to develop new concepts for agriculture and forestry in order to utilise peatlands in a climate-friendly yet profitable way, rushes show great potential. They spread preferentially on moist, acidic and low-nitrogen soils, and rewetted moorland is also suitable as a location for pure rush cultures.
The project focuses on the potential uses of rushes as a fibre material for insulation or as a filler for plastics. Harvesting and raw material utilisation concepts for rushes are to be developed that take into account the special challenges of their harvesting. In addition, the developed materials will be characterised and ecobalanced.