FAIR-CT96-3132 International Centre for Biopolymer Technology (ICBT)

Contacts
Website: www.ato.dlo/ICBT
Summary Information



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Biopolymers/Gums : FAIR Area 2.2 - Bioprocessing

	Contract No:	FAIR-CT96-3132
	Date Prepared:	July 2001
	Source:	Final Report

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Final Report

Source: Various documents arising from the activity

Consortium: The project was co-ordinated by ICBT, ATO-DLO, Wageningen (The Netherlands) in partnership with the Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, Coimbra (Portugal), Institut fur Biochimie und Lebensm, Graz University of Technology, Graz (Austria), the Department of Polymeric Materials, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden) and the P&C Group, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (UK).

Summary

Objective: This was given in the mission statement, as follows:

The mission of ICBT is to define the prospects and future research needs of biopolymer technology, and improve the integration and accessibility of scientific expertise for the benefit of European industry

Activities: Run over a period of two years as a concerted action, membership of ICBT was free over the duration of the project, thanks to the financial support of the European Commission under the FAIR programme. The activities carried out were as follows:

• Organisation of an annual conference on biopolymer technology
• Holding of workshops and summer schools
• Enabling short-term scientific exchange missions
• Maintaining an information network based on an internet site and the production of newsletters.

Annual Conferences: Two were held.

The first conference was held at the end of September 1999 in Coimbra, Portugal. It attracted 92 participants from 19 countries and included 25 oral communications and 42 poster presentations. The five sessions covered:

• Processing technology and engineering
• Biosynthesis of polymers
• Biostructure and modification
• Analytical methods and biodegradability
• Future perspectives of bioplastics

The second conference was held in October 2000 in Ishia, Italy. It attracted 50 participants from 14 countries, and included 20 oral communications and 21 poster presentations. The programme covered the following aspects of the subject:

• Biopolymers and renewable resources
• Biopolymer technology and applications
• (Bio)synthesis and modifications
• Material testing and analytical methods

Workshops and Training Courses: Three were held

The first workshop, entitled "Testing methods for biodegradable and compostable products in relation to standardisation" was held in May 1999, in Paris (France), attracting 19 participants from 9 countries. The objective was to enhance the interaction between participants in the following activities:

• CEN TC261/SC4/WG2 working group on the 'Organic Recovery of Packaging
• Experts in biodegradation/compostability testing
• Consortium in EU-SMT RTD project 'Labelling biodegradable products'

The first training Course on 'Biopolymer Technology - Production and characterisation of biopolymers', was held in May 2000 in Coimbra (Portugal). It attracted 40 participants from 6 countries. The programme included lectures and practical experimentation covering:

• Polymer synthesis by fermentation
• Isolation and modification of biopolymers
• Characterisation and analysis of biopolymers
• Processing of produced biopolymers

The third event, entitled 'Hierarchical organisation of polysaccharides and lignocellulosics - An inspiration for new materials' was held in August 2000, at Fiskebäckskil, Sweden. Of 58 participants from 10 countries, 14 speakers presented lectures in the following areas:

• Solution and gel properties of polysaccharides
• Organisation of plant materials on micro- and nano-scale
• Biological tools to build new materials
• High performance materials based on polysaccharides

Publications: An overview covering the state of the art in biopolymer technology was edited from around 32 submitted manuscripts. At the time the project ended the manuscripts were being evaluated, with a proposed publication date of June 2001, with the book published by Kluwer Academic Publishing (KAP).

Short-Term Scientific Exchange Missions: The movement of scientists on exchange visits involved the following places:

• Ankara (TR)
• Athens (GR)
• Bologna (I)
• Braga (P)
• Coimbra (P)
• Dublin (IRL)
• Espoo (FIN)
• Gotenborg (S)
• Graz (A)
• Lund (S)
• Madrid (E)
• Montpellier (F)
• Nottingham (UK)
• Novara (I)
• Pisa (I)
• Stockholm (S)
• Uppsala (S)
• Valencia (E)
• Wageningen (NL)

Information Network:

• Newsletter - two issues were produced. However, it was found that this took considerable effort to produce, while the impact was considered marginal
• Internet site - This became operational as from October 1998 and was re-styled in April 2000. Although this also required considerable effort to update the information, the impact was considered significant.