EU biorefineries producing bio-based products will be an important part of the circular bio-based economy. This project is contributing to that dynamic.

PROMOFER is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. It aims to produce circular bio-based products for use in the agriculture, packaging and textiles sectors.

Its main goal is to make the fermentation process involved in producing two of the most commercialised biobased compounds more efficient. These compounds are Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), a flexible, biodegradable and biobased polymer with good thermal and mechanical properties, and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), a chemical compound in high demand for a wide range of applications (printing inks, perfumes, fumigants, moistening agents and softening agents). Producing these compounds via fermentation is not new, but current methods are unable to compete with chemical synthesis processes.

2,3-BDO obtained by fermentation will be used as starting material to produce biobased polyurethanes. PROMOFER will demonstrate fermentation technologies to facilitate the large-scale deployment of industrial bio-based systems (PHBV and 2,3-BDO).

PROMOFER will contribute to significant knowledge advancements in biobased waste treatments, improvements of strain capacities, uses of biocatalysts, process designs and downstream processes.

This project is coordinated by AIMPLAS and the Consortium has 13 partners from seven European countries. The project will run for 48 months, until June 2028.