Development of renewable composite materials for anaerobic digestion

Development of renewable composite materials for anaerobic digestion

The purpose of this project is to develop renewable composites amenable to anaerobic digestion. In case of successful digestion, biogas could be a value-added product of the recycling process of end-life renewable composite-based products. While many bioplastics have been studied for composting, it is presently unclear how well these bioplastics or their derived biocomposites can be converted into biogas. This project will evaluate the anaerobic digestion potential of a range of structurally-different bioplastics and of their reinforced versions (biocomposites) produced with different types and fractions of renewable fibres.In contrast to composting, biogas production already has an existing infrastructure. Consequently, if composite materials can be prepared and recycled by anaerobic digestion into biogas, it is of high industrial, scientific and environmental interest. Such a material can find many applications; for example food packaging.