Collaboration chosen to develop portable waste converter

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Nottingham University is part of a €1.5m SPRIN-D Challenge collaboration to develop a portable facility that converts waste into chemicals that can be used to make medical devices.

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The SPRIN-D Challenge ‘Circular Biomanufacturing’ is a three-year competition hosted by the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation in Germany. Over 50 groups applied, with eight selected for the first stage to develop novel bioprocessing techniques that are expected to contribute to a circular economy.

The MATERI-8 project will use bacteria to consume waste and convert it into acrylic molecules that can be mixed with other monomers to create polymers, that can be used in additive manufacturing to create medical devices. The team is planning to build a bespoke containerised system to enable local utilisation of the technology.

In a statement, Assistant Professor Sam Bryan, from Nottingham University’s Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, said: “Securing funding as part of the SPRIN-D challenge is an incredibly exciting step for this project, as it’s giving us the opportunity to turn our research into reality and make a real difference to countries that are swamped with waste but don’t have the facilities to deal with it.

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waste converter