EU project Promofer targets bio-PU from farm waste

Valencia, Spain – European researchers are advancing efforts to produce sustainable polyurethane (PU) from agricultural residues under the EU-funded Promofer project, led by Aimplas, the Spanish institute of plastics technology.

Backed by the ‘circular bio-based Europe joint undertaking’ (CBE-JU), the four-year programme aims to turn lignocellulosic feedstocks – including rice straw, wheat straw and pruning waste – into 2,3-butanediol monomer.

In parallel, the project is developing bioplastics from food industry by-products such as low-value starches, whey permeate and industrial wastewater.

At a 17 June meeting at University College Dublin, the consortium reported advances in enzymatic hydrolysis, microorganism characterisation, and volatile fatty acid production.

Work is also ongoing to scale up the fermentation processes and system designs for the two bio-based outputs.

Now in its second year, Promofer is preparing a new cycle of agri-waste collection, having already completed material analysis of incoming feedstocks.

Beyond technical R&D, the initiative is also assessing public acceptance of circular bio-based products and promoting stakeholder engagement across Europe.

According to Aimplas, the project aims to tackle industrial bottlenecks that have kept fermentative production of 2,3-BDO and other feedstock from competing with conventional chemical synthesis.

The Promofer consortium includes 13 partners from seven European countries and is scheduled to run until June 2028.