POLYMEER celebrates one year of progress at its third consortium meeting in Rome

Brussels, October 2025 - On 25-26 September 2025, the POLYMEER consortium gathered in Rome for its 12-month meeting, which was hosted by Birra Peroni and organised by Sapienza University. The event marked the project's first anniversary, a year that brought both important achievements and significant challenges. As a complex and ambitious initiative, POLYMEER has required flexibility, strong coordination, and close collaboration among partners. The meeting provided an opportunity to review progress, plan next steps and celebrate the work completed thus far.

Work package updates
Work Package 1 (WP1), led by UNIPG, reported strong progress despite encountering unexpected complexities. The team adapted their approaches to overcome these obstacles, strengthening cooperation and teamwork across the consortium. In WP2, coordinated by UNIROMA, partners presented the results of testing materials for mulch films, textiles, and tertiary packaging. This included the characterisation of three commercial mulch films (one traditional and two bio-based), as well as textile analyses on a yarn and two kinds of fabric, which underwent abrasion and tensile testing.

Some updates were presented for WP3, led by Bio-mi, where activities are advancing in terms of scaling up processes from the laboratory to the pilot level to demonstrate industrial feasibility. Lomartov presented the results of WP4's work on sustainability assessment and end-of-life scenarios. The team has completed hazard assessments of chemicals using the European Sustainable-by-Design framework and is conducting environmental sustainability evaluations through streamlined life-cycle assessment methods.

WP5, led by Zabala and Gate2Growth, highlighted the project's communication, dissemination and exploitation activities. The consortium has established a strong visual identity and achieved steady growth on social media. The project has been presented at major international events, and, together with its sister projects, POLYMEER launched the BIOPOLY Cluster. In terms of exploitation, the first workshop was held at the previous consortium meeting, individual coaching sessions with partners were conducted, and exploitable results have been identified. Finally, WP6, led by UNIPG, outlined upcoming administrative milestones.

Responsible research and innovation workshop
A highlight of the second day was the first workshop on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Societal Readiness, organised under WP4. The session encouraged partners to consider the ethical, social, and governance aspects of their research and to anticipate how stakeholders such as policymakers, NGOs, companies, and the public might engage with POLYMEER's results. This interactive exercise generated valuable insights and will support the integration of RRI practices throughout the project.ç

Visit to Birra Peroni
On the final day, partners visited the Birra Peroni facilities and learned about the company's production process, range of products, and how the brewer's spent grain used in POLYMEER is generated. This gave the consortium a deeper understanding of one of the project's key industrial contexts, showing how POLYMEER's innovations can be applied in the real world. It also helped to reinforce collaboration and strengthen team spirit.

Rue Belliard 20 - 4th floor
1040 Brussels, Belgium
Arantxa Iborra: aiborra@zabala.eu, +32 487 129 253
Marta Rodríguez: martarodriguez@zabala.eu, +32 486 906 215

Zabala Innovation is a leading international consultancy firm in innovation strategy and R&D&I financing. It has a lot of experience in proposal writing, project management, and communication and dissemination activities of EUprojects. Our goal isn't just about obtaining funding, it's about making our clients' projects commercially successful.

Founded in 1308, Università degli Studi di Perugia is one of the oldest and most accredited universities in Italy. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees and doctoral programs in various academic disciplines with three internationally recognized centers of excellence, including the Beer Research Center.

Founded in 1303, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" is the oldest university in Rome and the largest in Europe. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees and doctoral programs in all pure and applied sciences and humanities, as well as significant research programs in the fields of engineering and natural sciences, among others.

Bio-mi is an R&D company based in Croatia and dedicated to the production of final and semifinal thermoplastic materials used in packaging and agricultural products. It is the first manufacturer of certified bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable thermoplastics in East and Southeast Europe.

Based in Valencia, Lomartov supports companies, industrial clusters, and R&D projects in the chemical, industrial, materials, biotechnology, and bioengineering sectors. It is part of several national, European, and international projects, associations, and platforms and offers services such as environmental impact assessments and cost analysis.

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is a unique pilot facility for process development, scale-up, and custom manufacturing of innovative biobased products using technologies such as biomass pretreatment, biocatalysis, fermentation, and green chemistry. Established in Ghent in 2008, it has successfully conducted more than 450 projects.

Next Technology Tecnotessile is a private research organization in various industrial sectors, mainly textiles, clothing, textile machinery, and logistics. Founded in 1972, it has collaborated in R&D and technology transfer projects with companies, universities, and research centers in Italy and Europe in general.

Asociación de Investigación de Materiales Plásticos y Conexas is a technology center with more than 30 years of experience in the plastics sector. It provides solutions to companies throughout the entire value chain, from raw material manufacturers to processors and end users. AIMPLAS has more than 35 pilot plants to process plastic materials and carries out more than 5,000 analyses and tests every year.

Headquartered in Ghent, Normec OWS is the global market leader in the biodegradability and compostability testing of different types of material. It also offers additional services in the fields of biodegradation and compostability, waste composition, and recycling, such as auditing, sorting waste, and lifecycle assessments.

Universiteit Twente has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world and was ranked the best technical university in the Netherlands. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees and doctoral programs in engineering and natural and social sciences. UT has produced more spin-off companies and start-ups than any other Dutch university.

Founded in 1846, Birra Peroni is an Italian brewing company with three production plants and one malthouse. By 2030, it has committed to achieve carbon neutrality in its facilities, reduce landfill waste to zero, and use sustainably sourced raw materials and reusable or fully recyclable packaging.

Based in Portugal, Borgstena Textile Portugal designs and produces textile ecosystems for the automotive industry, including baby car seats and car and truck interiors. As part of its environmental commitment, it uses bio-based, natural, and recycled materials and aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2025.

Founded in 1949, Fraunhofer is a leading applied research organization that conducts research on key future technologies and transfers its findings to industry. It operates 76 institutes and research units and works hand in hand with partners from industry, research, and the public sector to put innovations into practice.

Headquartered in Denmark, Gate2Growth's mission is to transform deep technological innovation into success stories. In addition to grant application writing, it assists companies and organizations from all over Europe in understanding market trends and planning financial strategies. It also participates in large-scale EU projects.

This release was published on openPR.