European Commission’s EnXylaScope project to officially launch this month

European Commission’s EnXylaScope project to officially launch this month

• The official kick-off of the project will take place on the 18th of May
• EnXylaScope is a €6 million research and innovation action comprising 13 organisations from 10 European countries

EnXylaScope is a project funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The EnXylaScope consortium, coordinated by AITIIP, aims to discover novel enzymes for debranching xylan, optimizing their production systems and using it in a range of potential greener consumer products.

During the lifespan of the project – from May 2021 to April 2025 –, the consortium will produce three types of enzymatically modified xylan which will be tested for six consumer products. These products will cover the cosmetics, personal care and nutraceuticals sectors. Advanced techniques will be used for the discovery, production, and formulation of these enzymes. The project is designed so that maximal research outputs are achieved in the period, and that the post-project timeframe for launching these products on the market is significantly reduced.

EnXylaScope debranched xylan will be the answer to the growing demand for greener biobased products. This highly-abundant lignocellulose polymer has outstanding physical and chemical properties which make it suitable for incorporation in an array of consumer products, replacing less-sustainable product components and therefore allowing for greener market options for the consumer.

There have been several recent key advances by the EnXylaScope consortium in: high-throughput screening methods (SINTEF), production systems (ULUND), xylan extraction (CELIGNIS), and enzyme production and applications in grafting (METGEN). Additionally, several members of the consortium have a growing interest in biobased alternatives for synthetic polymers in cosmetics and personal care products (SEPPIC) and in expanding their existing feed and food markets by taking advantage of growing biotechnology (KERRY and FERMEX). As a result, it is now an appropriate time to accelerate research on xylan debranching enzymes and xylan for functional polymer applications in order to pioneer the process and gain commercial advantage.

EnXylaScope officially kicks-off on May 18th 2021 in an online meeting that brings together the project consortium composed by Fundación AITTIP (project coordinator and research institution from Spain), Celiginis (SME from Ireland), IFEU – Institut fur Energie (research institution from Germany), LOBA.cx (SME and project dissemination leader from Portugal), SEPPIC – Societé d’Exploitation de Produits pour les Industries Chimiques (Industry from France), divis intelligent solutions GmbH (SME from Germany), Rise Research Institute of Sweden (research institution from Sweden), Techniche Universiteit Delft (University from The Netherlands), SINTEF (research institution from Norway), Kerry Ingredients (Industry from Ireland), FERMEX (SME from Denmark), Lunds Universitet (University from Sweden) and METGEN (SME from Finland).

Soon you will be able to get more information about the EnXylaScope project as well as its upcoming activities and results at www.enxylascope.eu 

Until then, the public information is available at European's Commission repository for EU-funded projects https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101000831   
For more information, please contact info@enxylascope.eu