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MARISURF – Novel, Sustainable Marine Bio-Surfactant (Horizon2020)
The objectives of MARISURF are to develop (1) innovative approaches in discovering, characterizing and producing novel marine-derived bio-surfactants, (2) to develop novel, economic, and eco-friendly end-products with commercial applications in order to replace synthetic counterparts, and (3) to demonstrate the functionality of new product development for commercial exploitation.
MARISURF’s mission is to transcend the whole production pipeline, from initial discovery of novel and exceptionally promising surface-active agents, through proof-of-concept, industrial production and application in product formulations by commercial end-users. For this purpose the consortium includes twelve partners across six European countries, eight of which are industrial partners.
Surfactants and emulsifiers constitute an important class of chemical agents that are widely used in almost every sector of modern industry. The huge market demand is currently met almost exclusively by synthetic, mainly petroleum-based, chemical products, which are usually non-biodegradable and mostly toxic or GM plant based products (used in foods), which are undesirable by some end-users. Their biologically produced counterparts (i.e. bio- surfactants and bio-emulsifiers) offer more green sustainable alternatives. This has led to a number of manufactures, looking for ways to increase competitiveness through searching for underexploited sources such as the marine environment.
In this project the nova-Institute is responsible for assessing and evaluating the environmental impact of the newly developed processes under application of Life Cycle Assessment.
