SOWISE PLUS

The SOWISE+ project will demonstrate at TRL8 a first-of-its-kind multipurpose biorefinery for the valorisation of urban biowaste into polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs, in particular PHBV), that, combined with the valorisation of cellulose derived from post consumers absorbent hygiene products (AHPs), will result into valuable bio-based materials and products demonstrating a groundbreaking model of urban-industrial symbiosis. The SOWISE+ concept is grounded on robust processes developed in previous R&I projects, and now ready to be scaled-up and integrated into a flagship biorefinery hosted by CONT, a leading municipal waste management company. The biowaste conversion technology of SOWISE+ has been previously developed in the RES URBIS project which demonstrated at TRL6 the production of PHBV. In SOWISE+, this technology will be scaled up at TRL8 to produce 230 t/y of PHBV (80% purity) with Hydroxyvalerate (HV) content higher than 10%. The AHP recycling process of SOWISE+ builds on business model and value chain learnings from the highly successful project EMBRACED. CONT has recently secured funding by the Italian government under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility to construct a 5,000 t/y AHP recycling plant based on the EMBRACED technology. In SOWISE+ this plant will be operational and available for integration into the flagship system, upgraded with a dedicated add-on module based on a new IP-protected technology developed by i-FORIA. This will allow to produce up to 700 t/y of virgin-like cellulose, maximising the exploitation potential of the plant. The application of the SOWISE+ outputs, PHBV and cellulose, will be demonstrated at TRL8 through a portfolio of advanced bio-based materials and products fully compliant with market requirement. The SOWISE+ project will generate a 5-year cumulative EBITDA of €5,475,795. Additionally, SOWISE+ will act as a lighthouse investment for the replication of integrated urban-industrial symbiosis models across Europe.