PROJECT NEWS: 6th General Assembly in Italy

The SEALIVE Consortium gathered in Italy for the 6th General Assembly on the 8th and 9th of March 2023! Researchers and industry representatives from the consortium gathered at CITTADINI’s facilities in beautiful Brescia in northern Italy, to discuss the latest results and plans for the final year of the project.

The meeting focused on updates on the project’s eight demonstrators and the achievements made toward finalizing the unique bio-based plastic formulas for each. Our ambitious project aims to not only formulate new biobased plastics, with advanced properties but also demonstrate their applications in industrial and real environments. There was much discussion around the field trials with end-users which have already begun in France for the oyster mesh bag, and in Cyprus for the fishing net. SEALIVE flexible food packaging and fishing crates will also be trialed this summer.

The project’s policy team led by IEEP has been very busy recently and published several new briefings (available to read here). The team hopes these briefings will help inform and shape policies and regulations around the production and use of bio-based plastics in the future. SEALIVE’s work on how bio-based products should be best managed at end-of-life, current standards, particularly biodegradation, and ecotoxicity, also continues. Together this work will make sure the final SEALIVE products can be taken up by the industry and eventually society!

On the second day of the meeting, exploitation partner Gate2Growth hosted a Value Proposition Workshop. Considering the value of the project’s products, the consortium worked together to develop value proposition canvases for each demonstrator which will form part of the overall business model for each product. Having a better understanding of the customer segments and their specific ‘pains’ and ‘gains’ will help the exploitation team develop forward-thinking plans and ensure the impact of the project.

The team also enjoyed a tour of CITTADINI’s factory, where the project’s fishing nets were made, as well as a tour of the city and of course some delicious Italian food.

Published 03/04/2023 | Last edited 01/11/2023