Bringing bio-based composite materials to the market.

Led by the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), BIOntier is a 3-year project co-funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme under the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) and the UK Research and Innovation Fund, running from October 2024 to September 2027.

BIOntier supports the production of advanced bio-based materials with enhanced thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties. Composite materials are at the forefront of material reserach today and always include the a combination of two materials with different physical and chemical properties. In this case, the materials are also bio-based, meaning that they are unprocessed natural materials designed to be lightweight, recyclable, and cost-effective, contributing to reduced environmental impact across sectors such as automotive, aerospace, consumer goods and energy industries.

The project advances manufacturing processes by improving synthesis and scalability, collaborating with end-users to validate commercial applications and elevate the distinct composite materials for their respective applications to higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs).

Within a consortium of 25 partners from 12 European countries, our company leads the Exploitation and Dissemination Work Package and carries the following tasks:

• Mapping exploitation plans for the project results to maximise the commercialisation of bio-based technologies;

• Development of business models to ensure a real market-uptake of the new materials across many industries to support strategic excellence of European R&D;

• Conducting an economies of scale analysis and contributing to the LCA/LCCA to probe the viability and impact of market uptake;

• Enhancing innovation output in collaboration with the European Commission and key stakeholders within and beyond the project.