Research & innovation projects

BioCatPolymers aims to demonstrate a cost-effective, sustainable and efficient cascade technological route to convert low-value, low-quality residual biomass to high-added value biopolymers. The technology is based on an integrated hybrid bio- and thermo-chemical process combining the best features of both.

Quantis will assess the environmental performance of the novel BioCatPolymers technology and associated end-products by means of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) compared to conventional technologies. Quantis will also develop a web-based footprinter.

BIODIE2020 will recover unconventional, degraded waste oils & fats, notably from Water Company infrastructures, and demonstrate the conversion of these wastes as a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production. This break-through & beneficial pathway will maximise the use of waste oils & fats on a large scale for the 1st time on the biodiesel market, leading to lower transport carbon emissions.

Quantis will assess the environmental performance of the investigated novel technologies and products, compared to reference conventional technologies, by means of a life cycle assessment (LCA).

BIONICO will develop, build and demonstrate at a real biogas plant (TRL6) a novel reactor concept integrating hydrogen production and separation in a single vessel. The hydrogen production capacity will be of 100 kg/day. By using the novel intensified reactor, direct conversion of biogas to pure hydrogen is achieved in a single step, which results in an increase of the overall efficiency and strong decrease of volumes and auxiliary heat management units.

Quantis will lead the research on adapting environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental performance of the investigated novel technology for hydrogen production, compared to reference conventional technologies.

The tyre industry generates considerable amounts of waste but it could enter the circular economy concept, adding to recycled products of high value from an environmental point of view. The EU-funded BlackCycle project will create, develop and improve a full value chain that will exploit recycling of the end-of-life tyre to produce high-technical second hand raw materials without any waste of resources. Since existing technologies are limited, the project will go beyond the barriers and produce raw materials for tyre production or other technical products. In addition to the environmental benefits, the project will contribute to the growth of the European tyre industry as the world leader of sustainable tyre production.

Quantis is responsible for assessing the environmental performance of the developed sustainable tyres compared with existing conventional End-of-Life tyre solutions, with the application of environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Assessment.

BOOSTER aims to improve drought tolerance in both maize and teff, while simultaneously exploring the potential for transferring species-specific drought responsive features.

Firstly, a new approach will identify genomic variants in regulatory regions functionally associated with drought tolerance. Novel regulatory elements underlying resilience will inform efficient breeding efforts to create new drought-tolerant cereal varieties. Secondly, novel molecular priming technologies from seaweed and microbial-based biostimulants will be developed as an eco-friendly approach for improving drought resilience.

By exploiting natural genetic variations to achieve drought-tolerant genotypes, and by developing biostimulants derived from living organisms, BOOSTER will harness the natural resources available to develop new varieties of drought-tolerant agricultural crops.

CELLFIL is a Horizon Europe project aimed at transforming the European textile value chain by developing sustainable, bio-based Lyocell filaments. Made from biodegradable and circular raw materials such as wood, orange peel, textile waste, and other second-generation (2G) feedstocks, these filaments are designed to replace synthetic fibers addressing both the environmental and social impacts of the textile industry. The project will drive innovation across the value chain by defining business models and strategies for market adoption by 2030, ultimately contributing to the development of a circular textile economy in Europe.

CLEANKER aims to advance the integrated Calcium-looping (CaL) process for CO2 capture in cement plants. Calcium looping is one of the most promising technologies for CO2 capture in cement plants The process comprises two basic steps: (1) “carbonation” of CaO to form CaCO3 in a reactor operating around 650°C; (2) oxyfuel calcination in a reactor operating at 920–950°C, which makes the CaO available again and generates a gas stream of nearly-pure CO2.

Quantis’ will perform an environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the CLEANKER technology as well as guidance recommendations on how to improve the environmental performance of clinker and cement manufacturing. Quantis will also develop a user-friendly, web-based environmental footprinter tool that seeks to raise public awareness of the sustainability of the CLEANKER technology.

Out of the community created by SPIRE covering industrial and research actors throughout Europe, EPOS brings together 6 global process industries from 6 key relevant sectors: steel, cement, minerals, chemicals, bio-based/life science products and engineering. With the aim of reinforcing competitiveness of the EU industry, it is the ambition of the EPOS partners to gain cross-sectorial knowledge and investigate cluster opportunities using an innovative Industrial Symbiosis (IS) platform to be developed and validated during the project.

Quantis will help integrate footprinting issues in the developed Industrial Symbiosis tool and report on the sustainability gains, in terms of environmental benefits for the process industries and society in general.

The EU-funded ESCIB project aims to help the European bio-based economy by developing crucial assessment methodologies that will allow faster and more accurate assessments of their value chains. With the involvement of five innovative industry partners in the consortium, which produce bio-based products in different sectors including packaging, textiles, chemicals and building products, ESCIB will ensure high applicability of the method which can be used by certification organisations to label and certify products for the benefit of consumers and society. Finally, the results will give orientations for research and innovation programmes in the bio-based sectors.

The world faces a major challenge with the sharp increase in demand for meat and fish by 2050, to which current modes of production, whether through agriculture, aquaculture or fisheries, cannot be sustained. An innovative solution to this predicted shortage of resources, especially protein, lies in insect production and processing which can provide a serious response. However, up to date, no industrial scale production of insect-derived products has been realized.

Coordinated by Ÿnsect, the FARMŸNG project has the ambition to develop, on an industrial and automated scale, the breeding and transformation of insects for the production of ingredients, with the strong participation of 20 key actors all along the value chain, from the feedstock supply to the final insect transformation.

Quantis will assess the life cycle sustainability performance of the innovative insect-based proteins by means of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), LCC and social LCA, setting other alternative protein sources for pet-food and aqua-food applications as a baseline.

FLEDGED will deliver a process for bio-based dimethyl ether (DME) production from biomass. It will combine a flexible sorption enhanced gasification (SEG) process and a novel sorption enhanced DME synthesis (SEDMES) process to produce DME from biomass with an efficient and low cost process.
Quantis will guide the design and development of the investigated value chains towards more sustainable solutions, benchmark the investigated technology against alternative fuel technologies (including competitive biofuels), and help future suppliers and customers make more informed decisions.

Glaukos will develop biobased textile fibres and textile coatings that are adapted to the needs of the 21st century. The complete life cycle of clothing and fishing gear will be redesigned, their sustainability performance will be enhanced significantly, while their technical performance will be matched to end-user requirements. The ambition is to significantly reduce the carbon and plastic footprint of clothing and fishing gear.

Glaukos will develop eco-designed fishing gear and clothing, and scale up their production process, all the way from renewable feedstock to textile prototype and ending with two end-of-life solutions: biodegradation and bio-recycling.

HEART is focused on improving energy efficiency in the building sector and aims to develop, test and validate a holistic and multi-technological integrated and interconnected system for the deep rehabilitation of residential buildings.

Quantis will provide life cycle assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) analysis during Work Package 3, with the aim of evaluating the life cycle environmental and cost performance of the developed building technologies and technical systems, taking into account the possible and targeted synergies among the various components.

The key objective of the HyGrid project is the design, scale-up and demonstration at industrially relevant conditions a novel membrane based hybrid technology for the direct separation of hydrogen from natural gas grids. The focus of the project will be on the hydrogen separation through a combination of membranes, electrochemical separation and temperature swing adsorption to be able to decrease the total cost of hydrogen recovery.

Quantis will assess the environmental performance of the investigated novel hydrogen production technology, compared to reference conventional technologies, by means of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA).

LEILAC will successfully pilot a breakthrough technology that will enable both Europe’s cement and lime industries to reduce their emissions dramatically while retaining, or even increasing, international competitiveness. LEILAC will develop, build and operate a 240 tonne per day pilot plant demonstrating Direct Separation Calcining technology which will capture over 95% of the process CO2 emissions.

Building upon its expertise and experience in the cement sector, Quantis will assess the environmental performance of the developed novel cement technology and how it compares to conventional technologies, thereby helping to minimise the environmental risks prior to the final design.

MEMBER seeks to scale the manufacture of advanced materials (membranes and sorbents) for use with novel membrane-based technologies that outperform current technology for pre- and post-combustion CO2 capture in power plants as well as H2 generation with integrated CO2 capture. The project will deliver a robust demonstration of the new materials under real conditions (TRL 6) by designing, building, operating and validating three prototype systems tested in industrial relevant conditions.

Quantis will assess the environmental performance of the innovative advanced materials by means of environmental Life Cycle Assessment, compared to current technologies for pre- and post-combustion CO2 capture. To demonstrate and disseminate the sustainability performance of the MEMBER technology, Quantis will develop and maintain a web-based footprint tool based on the results of the conducted LCA.

The key objective of MEMERE is the design, scale-up and validation of a novel membrane reactor for the direct conversion of methane into ethylene with integrated air separation. The focus of the project will be on the air separation through novel MIEC membranes integrated within a reactor operated at high temperature for OCM allowing integration of different process steps in a single multifunctional unit and achieving much higher yields compared with conventional reactor.

Quantis will assess the environmental and economic performance of the investigated novel ethylene production technology, compared to reference conventional technologies, by means of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC).

The main objective of the MMATWO project is to construct a novel and fast growing polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) recycling value chain through depolymerisation and recovery of a monomer grade sold at 90% of virgin MMA price. MMATWO targets to reduce the energy needs by more than 70% and CO2 emissions by more than 60%.

Quantis will evaluate the environmental performance of the developed recycled MMA and associated value chain, and compare it to virgin MMA  for selected applications.

The objective of the NEWPACK project is to validate in industrial setting the production of two novel bio-plastics based on PHB-PLA blends, with improved sustainability performance, obtained by the addition of natural extracts with antioxidant/antibacterial properties and nano-additives from cellulose and chitin.

Quantis is responsible for assessing the environmental performance of the developed novel bio-based plastics compared with existing conventional packaging solutions, by means of environmental Life Cycle Assessment.

Scaling up sustainable and biodegradable materials is crucial for the future advancement of European industry. Currently, many bio-based alternatives struggle to compete with established fossil-based chemicals due to challenges in environmental, economic, and societal performance. To overcome this, NEXT-STEP aims to build on the H2020 BioCatPolymers project to scale up and demonstrate a sustainable, safe, and economically viable production process for a new chemical platform with large-scale applications, notably in the bio-based polymer market.

By reducing manufacturing costs and using second-generation feedstocks such as hardwood sugars produced from sustainably managed forests, NEXT-STEP aims to develop a new chemical platform, the 3-methyl-d-valerolactone (3MdVL) that will improve the sustainability and recyclability of polyurethane (PU) products and unlock new engineering plastic applications for polylactic acid (PLA) co-polymers. This initiative seeks to address environmental concerns while fostering the adoption of bio-based materials in various industries.

RECO2ST will enable the formulation of customized and efficient renovation action plans and the implementation of cost effective technological solutions to improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings to nZEB levels. This will be made possible by reductions of 71–91% in energy consumption.  The project aims to optimize environmental conditions, improve the lives of inhabitants and increase building value for owners.

Quantis will harness its expertise in environmental Life Cycle Assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of the reference refurbishment work database. Quantis will also provide validation for the developed LCA module and the calculation of the environmental impacts of the selected refurbishment scenarios.

RESYNTEX aims at designing, developing and demonstrating new high environmental impact industrial symbiosis between the unwearable blends and pure components of textile waste and the chemical and textile industries.

Quantis will evaluate the environmental and cost performance of the investigated novel textile recycling value chain by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC).

SCALER’s vision is to increase the uptake of industrial symbiosis across Europe. The project will develop a set of best practices, tools and guidelines, helping businesses and industrial sites work together to ensure sustainable resource use. Through industrial symbiosis, European industrial companies will become more resource efficient and therefore more competitive.

Quantis will evaluate the potential benefits of synergies, taking into consideration key environmental indicators such as GHG emissions, non-renewable primary energy use, and fresh water consumption. Quantis will also provide database development, support on social Life Cycle Assessment, and knowledge and data management.

The aim of the SCARABEUS project is to demonstrate that the application of supercritical CO2 blends to CSP plants has the potential to reduce CAPEX by 30% and OPEX by 35% with respect to state-of-the-art steam cycles, thus exceeding the reduction achievable with standard supercritical CO2 technology. This translates into a LCoE lower than 96 €/MWh, which is 30% lower than currently possible. The project will demonstrate the innovative fluid and newly developed heat exchangers at a relevant scale (300 kWth) for 300 h in a CSP-like operating environment.

Building upon the expertise in life cycle assessment (LCA) and renewable technologies, Quantis is leading the environmental LCA assessment to evaluate the innovative SCARABEUS technology for CSP application with the objectives to (i) inform the key environmental performance indicator of the SCARABEUS technology development; (ii) to guide the development of the technology towards a more sustainable solution; (iii) to benchmark the SCARABEUS technology against alternative conventional and state of the art technologies.

SecREEts project aims at establishing  a stable and secure supply of critical rare earth elements based on a sustainable extraction from European apatite sources used in fertiliser production.

Pilot processes will be developed for the innovative extraction, separation and transformation of rare earth elements that will be supplied to application areas like automotive (electric vehicles), industrial motors (advanced manufacturing) and, potentially, clean energies (wind turbines).

Quantis will evaluate the environmental and cost performance of the investigated novel Rare Earth Elements value chain, compared to compared to reference conventional technologies, by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC).

SIDERWIN seeks to develop an innovative electrochemical process to transform iron oxide into steel metal plates. This process, based on the ULCOWIN technology developed in 2004, produces steel by electrolysis without direct CO2 emissions. It is a disruptive innovation that represents a major step change in the way steel is currently produced.
Quantis will lead the project’s techno-economic and environmental assessments, using tools such as Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing, the results of which will be used to guide the design and development of the investigated electrochemical process towards more sustainable solutions. Quantis will also contribute to communication and dissemination efforts by developing visual tools to communicate about the environmental results to the larger public in an accessible way.

Sonication and Microwave Processing of Material Feedstock (SIMPLIFY) responds to the EU Horizon 2020 call SPIRE-02-2018 and is an innovation action in which leading European industries and university groups in process intensification, ultrasound, microwave, multiphase processes, polymerization and crystallization team up to address the domain of electrification of chemical industry. In four years, a consortium of 11 European organizations will focus on intensified processes, where alternative energy sources enable flexible continuous technologies to achieve localized ultrasound and microwave actuation of multiphase, flow reactors powered by electricity from renewable sources for the purpose of high-value product synthesis.

As Research and Innovation Action, SMARTBOX will fill the European innovation pipeline with completely new biobased products and sustainable processes. Within SMARTBOX, eleven participants from eight European countries will work together to develop innovative ways of transforming biomass into added-value bio-aromatics.

Quantis will be assessing the environmental performance of the developed novel engineered enzymes for selected applications by means of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), compared to existing conventional and state-of-the art solutions for the same application.

STAR-PROBIO constitutes a multidisciplinary and multi-actor collaborative project that will meet environmental, social and economic challenges, paving the way for a much-needed sustainability transition towards a bio-based economy. The overall objective of the project is to promote a more efficient and harmonized policy regulation framework, needed to promote the market-pull of bio-based products.

Quantis will perform a literature review of environmental indicators considered in related bio-based products studies and come up with a selection of strategic environmental sustainability indicators and associated impact categories. Quantis will also contribute to the environmental assessment of biomass processing schemes in a number of reference case studies.

Today, 2% of post-consumer textiles (in Europe) are diverted to fibre-to-fibre recycling. The T–REX Project brings together 12 major players from across the entire value chain to create a harmonised EU blueprint and business opportunities for closed loop sorting, and recycling of household textile waste. Transforming end-of-use textiles, from waste, into a desired feedstock, and a commodity for new business models that can be adopted at scale.

Creating a circular system for post-consumer textile waste currently faces many challenges, including a lack of standards for collecting and sorting textile waste across countries, inaccurate composition claims, uneven quality of materials, and a lack of reliable data across value chain stakeholders.

Across a three-year period, the T–REX Project will collect and sort household textile waste and demonstrate the full recycling process of polyester, polyamide 6, and cellulosic materials from textile waste into new garments. Simultaneously, the Project aims to demonstrate sustainable and economically feasible business models for each actor along the value chain, conduct lifecycle analysis of the circular process, integrate digital tools that streamline the process of closed loop textile recycling, and produce circular design guidelines.

The project ultimately aims to contribute to a paradigm shift, understanding and identifying the infrastructure, technology and policy needed to encourage the growth of circular value chains. It will work towards developing a systemic approach to addressing the problem of textile waste, whilst also assessing how citizens can be empowered to actively contribute to the paradigm shift, working to build a holistic solution to one of fashion’s biggest sustainability challenges.

ZELCOR aims at demonstrating the feasibility of transforming lignocellulose biorefinery recalcitrant side streams into high added-value biobased products, including fine chemicals. Its concept is to combine chemical and enzymatic catalysis with insects-based biological conversion, within a biorefinery integrated approach.

Building upon it expertise and experience in biorefineries added-value products derived from biomass, Quantis will assess the life-cycle environmental impacts of various lignin conversion/valorisation pathways, and compare their environmental performance to that of conventional alternative technologies.