According to the Ellen McArthur Report 2020, up to 9 million tons of plastic waste leak into the oceans each year, feeding the big garbage patches. Sadly, by 2050, there might be as much (micro)plastics as fish biomass in the sea. How did we get to this? With a global production of 350 million tons in 2018 and a 4-fold increase foreseen in the next 30 years, plastic is becoming one of the most abundant anthropogenic materials, with multiple implications on economy and environment. Moreover, due to inefficient waste management, recycling rates of post-consumer plastics only reach a disappointing 14% worldwide. Most plastic waste ends up incinerated and landfilled, while only a minor fraction is collected for recycling. The low rates of recycling have made plastic pollution one of the biggest waste problems faced by today’s society. In fact, relevant fractions of plastic cannot be (economically) recycled with conventional technologies, and new solutions are urgently needed. In addition to mechanical and chemical recycling, new studies are now investigating biochemical recycling routes, mainly through enzyme technology and protein engineering.

These technologies might represent a much-needed cornerstone for a more circular use of plastic and have the potential to complement the already existing technologies, by targeting the currently non-recycled fractions. However, the hydrophobicity and high crystallinity of plastics are still of major concern, often leading to slow kinetics and incomplete degradation, thus requiring further research and process optimization. For this reason, biotechnological plastic degradation and recycling are often overlooked on an industrial level, even though a new biotechnology by Carbios and Toulouse White Biotechnology allows obtaining efficient depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) on an industry-relevant scale and processing time. Considering that biotechnological degradation of plastics is still at a very early stage, these results are very promising and stimulate further research and development.

The Summer School

The focus of this AAU Engineering summer school will be on the biotechnological recycling of plastic waste, but a general overview of the whole value chain will be provided as well.

Targeted participants are PhD candidates, PostDocs, and industrial engineers. Moreover, the Summer school will represent a network opportunity for the European H2020 BIOTECH 09 Cluster, to gather and exchange experiences among early-career researchers of the three EU projects, dedicated to the plastic upcycling topic: UPLIFT, UpPE/T  and PRESERVE.

• Download the full programme of the summer school (Excel)
• Sign up here
• Read more about the event 

Detailed list of speakers

• Prof Georg Gübitz, BOKU Vienna: "Enzyme technology for plastic depolymerization"
• Prof Nick Wierckx, Forschungszentrum Jülich: "Plastics upcycling and advanced building blocks"
• Assoc. Prof Anders Daugaard, DTU: "An introduction to eco-design"
• Ass. Prof Alessandro Pellis, Uni Genova/ACIB: "Bio-based platform chemicals & sustainable polymer production" and "Chemo-enzymatic synthesis and functionalization of polymers"
• Prof. Rajni Hatti-Kaul and Dr. Mohamed Ismail; Lund University: "In-silico protein modelling"
• Dr. Lars Regenstein, Vice Head of Department at Leibniz Institute HKI: "Consolidated bioprocessing and up-scaling"
• Dr. Fuensanta Monzó Sánchez, CETEC, Coordinator of H2020 Up-PET project: "Biotech09 Workshop"
• Dr. Aldo Ramirez Reyes, IRIS, Coordinator of H2020 PRESERVE project: "Biotech09 workshop"
• Prof. Mette Thomsen, AAU: "Bioelectrochemical systems for plastic degradation"
• Prof. Jeppe Lund Nielsen, AAU: "Omics and new screening methods to explore the dark biological matter"
• Prof. Reinhard Wimmer, AAU: "Advanced analytical methods to quantify plastic degradation"
• Assoc. Prof Helene Balslev, AAU: "Workshop on consumer perspective, SDGs and Circular plastics value chain" (in collaboration with the NGO "PLASTIC CHANGE")
• Assoc. Prof. Peter Kristensen, AAU: "Introduction to protein engineering"
• Prof. Massimo Pizzol, AAU: "Workshop on LCA and sustainable plastic sector"
• Assoc. Prof. Peter Roslev, AAU: "Eco-toxicology of microplastics and degradation products"
• Assoc. Prof. Cristiano Varrone, AAU, Coordinator of the H2020 UPLIFT project: "Introduction to the plastic waste problem and plastic biorefinery"

General organization

Reception on Monday: All participants are invited to this reception where Aalborg University’s Rector, Per Michael Johansen, or Vice Dean John K. Pedersen will welcome the participants. The reception will take place at the AAU canteen at Fibigerstræde 15, DK-9220 Aalborg East.

Lunches: The lunches will be served at the AAU canteen at Fibigerstræde 15, DK-9220 Aalborg East.

Guided city-walk: Some fellow Ph.D. students will guide for a walk through Aalborg downtown toward some of the city’s most famous sights. The walk starts at 7 PM at Jens Bangs Stenhus (link til map available soon) and will last about two hours. Registration contact: Kristian Østergaard Sørensen – krs@adm.aau.dk.

Excursion: The excursion will take place at the wind-turbine test center in Thy, close to the windy west coast of Denmark. An expert will guide participants through the massive structures at the test center. The currently largest turbine at the center is an astonishing 222 meters rotor diameter.
Information link: https://www.offshorewind.biz/2021/11/12/worlds-largest-most-powerful-wind-turbine-stands-complete/. A light lunch will be provided during the excursion.

Participation fee: All participants have to pay for the catering (lunches and coffee). The price is EUR 150.

Registration fee for Danish PhD students = DKK 0
Registration fee for non-Danish PhD students is EUR 800.
Registration fee for other participants is EUR 1067.
Reception, city walk and excursion are also free of charge.