Catalan firm participates in a European project investigating how to make plastic from vegetal biomass

Girona (ACN).- The firm QNORM, located in the Scientific and Technologic Park of the Girona University (UdG), participates in a European project that aims to transform biomass into plastic. The company, which is called BioConSepT (bio-conversion and separation technology), has a budget of 13 million euros (MEUR), from the European Union. The project wants to use vegetal biomass (such as fats, oils and straw) and turn it into plastic in order to reduce the use of petrol. According to those behind BioConSepT, the cost of producing plastic can be reduced by 30% if biomass is used instead of petrol as the main source.

QNORM is a consultant’s office which teams up with 30 more European firms in this project. The main goal is to reduce the consumption of petrol by using biomass that does not compete with the food industry.

This method, according to QNORM, aims to reduce production costs by 30% and wants to be 30% more environmentally sustainable than the plastic made with petrol.

Matter, energy and residues

Through the BioConSepT project, QNORM analyzes how much energy and material is required for the process and how much residue is generated. This means that QNORM will evaluate the environmental impact of turning biomass into plastic. The goal is to prove that this procedure can elaborate good quality plastic, cheaper than the one made with petrol, and that is less damaging for the planet. QNORM checks that plastic produced from biomass is more sustainable and of greater quality than those made from petrol. QNORM also participates in Catalan, Spanish and European research projects.