MatVal makes debut in Rome

MatVal, the new SusChem-supported FP7 project, was launched at a conference in Rome on 7 and 8 February. The two-year, €1.3 million project aims to integrate requirements, ideas and solutions in materials across sectors to create synergies and develop a truly coordinated and competitive materials R&D programme for Europe.

The Rome event brought together partners in the Alliance for Materials (A4M), policymakers, R&D experts, material manufacturers and end-users.

The first day set the scene with descriptions of the European materials research, development and innovation (R&D&I) landscape with a specific focus on the forthcoming Horizon 2020 programme.

Value chain
The value chain approach is a key element of the thinking behind MatVal. Working along value chains can drive synergistic benefits through a common path which integrates players, resources and strategies starting from fundamental aspects of materials science up to the industrial systems that turn materials into valuable products.

How SusChem will contribute to this value chain approach to materials R&D&I was presented by Jacques Komornicki, Innovation Manager at Cefic. Jacques described SusChem’s links with a portfolio of European research and innovation initiatives including the Key Enabling Technologies policy area, to European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) on Water and Raw Materials, and Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) such as SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020: all of which require sustainable materials development input.

Jacques also outlined specific SusChem inputs to the MatVal programme. For work package two (Material Stakeholders) and work package four (Boosting Research) SusChem will be reviewing its own Materials Implementation Action Plan (IAP - see previous article) with a view to value chain application. As part of work package three (Common Elements between ETPs) and work package five (Boosting Innovation) SusChem’s involvement with EIPs and PPPs with major materials research agendas will be useful to identify potential synergies and key innovation elements. SusChem will also be leading the development of the Implementation Plan (work package six) with other MatVal stakeholders.

Next steps
The second day continued discussion on materials R&D&I issues along a number of value chains: energy, transport, construction, health and the creative sector. The conference concluded with presentations on the next steps for A4M and the MatVal project from Michal Basista, General Secretary of EuMat.

Outcomes for the project include the publication of an A4M strategic networking document describing a shared approach to future materials activities in Horizon 2020, conclusions on life cycle thinking and sustainable development issues, identification of critical standards and proposals for future regulations, work on a project exit strategy plan (looking at the continuing impact of the project beyond its endpoint) and the implementation road map itself.

Further workshops and conferences are envisaged including a workshop in horizontal innovation issue, a workshop on the strategic plan to boost research and a final project conference.

All the presentations and photographs from the conference are available here.

About MatVal
The MatVal project was initiated by the Alliance for Materials (A4M):  the grouping of European Technology Platforms (ETPs), including SusChem, that are working together to collaborate and coordinate their strong materials research and innovation agendas.

Through the A4M organization and the MatVal project Europe is now equipped with a multi-stakeholder forum to develop and share a single view on materials needs and accelerate the implementation of material innovations towards the end-user market applications. A4M is a new way of thinking: a partnership and networking initiative for materials research and innovation.

Get involved
The MatVal project is funded by the European Commission’s FP7 programme. Its full title is ‘Alliance for Materials – A Value Chain Approach to Materials Research and Innovation’. More basic information on the project can be found on the Cordis website.

For more information on SusChem and chemical industry involvement in MatVal and A4M, please contact SusChem Innovation Manager Jacques Komornicki at Cefic.

Register now for the 2013 SusChem Stakeholder Event!

Registration for the 2013 SusChem Stakeholder is now open. The event has the theme ‘Essential elements for EU Growth and Jobs: Innovative Materials and Processes’ and takes place on 14 – 15 May 2013 in Brussels. The meeting will primarily address the benefits of innovation partnerships and joint public-private initiatives to boost EU growth and improve competitiveness - and how SusChem and sustainable chemistry will play a role in this. Join us and get the latest insights!

The draft programme for the event is now available and the two days are packed with presentations, workshops and networking opportunities.

On the first day high level speakers form SusChem, the European Commission, the European Council and European Parliament will discuss the role of SusChem and European Technology Platforms in Horizon 2020, innovation and the new EU Industrial Policy, improving competitiveness and much more.

The second day includes parallel session on the European Innovation Partnerships (Water Efficiency, Raw Materials, Energy materials and Smart Cities) and the two Public-Private-Partnerships (SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020) that SusChem is involved with. Delegates will also be updated on progress in the SusChem ‘Educate to Innovate’ initiative.

Strategy in action
SusChem has evolved into a Europe-wide platform that captures the full benefit of Europe’s strengths in research and provides a well-connected network for innovation in the chemical and biotechnology value chain. As a result, its strategy has evolved too.

The new SusChem 2020 strategy retains research, innovation and education actions at the heart of our activities. These three activities are important to engage with policy makers and partner organizations to shape research and innovation policies and deliver truly sustainable innovation that creates value in and for European society.

To achieve its ambitious objectives, the platform’s partnership activities will also need to expand strategically. This means a substantial increase in multidisciplinary and cross-sector working along value chains. The new strategy is also designed to strengthen cooperation between SusChem Europe and our network of National Technology Platforms.

With this new strategy and its broad and growing stakeholder base, SusChem aims to ensure that research is effectively turned into innovative products and services that will shape Europe’s future.

Where and when?
Join us on 14 and 15 May at the SusChem Stakeholder Event in Brussels to see examples of the new strategy in action!

The event will take place at the Hotel Sofitel Europe on Place Jourdan in the heart of the European Quarter in Brussels.

For more information on SusChem activities, please contact the SusChem secretariat. Places are limited so you are advised to register as soon as possible!

Chemical industry committed to Raw Materials EIP

On 12 February, the High Level Steering Group (HLSG) of the new European Innovation Partnership(EIP) on Raw Materials held its first meeting in the European Commission’s Berlaymont building, Brussels. The EIP on Raw Materials is a major EU initiative that will work to ensure a sustainable supply of the critical raw materials that enable our modern efficient society as well as work to improve European industry's competitiveness and reduce European dependency on external supply of these materials. All these are critical elements for the continuing success of Europe’s industrial base – and an area where sustainable chemistry can make a big impact.

Three European commissioners (Vice-president and Commissioner for Enterprise Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Research Marie Geoghegan-Quinn and Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik) launched the EIP and stated the importance of this EIP for Europe’s long term competitiveness.

The partnership brings together stakeholders coming from industries, research centers, NGOs, political institutions and Member States representatives to help make Europe a world leader in raw materials exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution by 2020. The EIP has some firm targets to be achieved by 2020 that will reduce Europe's dependency on imported raw materials, replace rare materials with substitutes and set up innovative pilot actions, such as pilot plants for exploration, mining, processing, collecting and recycling.

Raw materials are the lifeblood of EU industry and at least 30 million jobs in Europe depend on access to them.

Scope enlargement

Representing the Chemical industry in the High Level Steering group is Werner Furhmann, member of the Executive Board of AkzoNobel, Integrated Supply Chain, Specialty Chemicals. He is supported by Peter J. Nieuwenhuizen, Director of Future-proof Supply Chains, AkzoNobel, who acts in a sherpa role.

During this first meeting, Werner Furhmann proposed a broadening of the EIP’s scope to include materials such as ethylene-propylene, phosphates and titanium dioxide – all crucial for the competitiveness of European chemical production. Today, EU import dependency is around 90% for these materials (see Table below for comparable import dependencies for a range of materials).

Plan for action

A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) prepared by the EIP will be endorsed in mid-July by the HLSG. This plan will include the definition of priority areas on technology-focused policy areas in exploration, extraction, recycling and substitution; and non-technology policy areas such as regulatory framework, knowledge base, promotion of excellence in resource efficiency and public procurement. 

To ensure the outcomes of this European initiative have an international impact, the EIP will also engage in discussion with the USA, Japan, Canada and Australia.

Chemical Industry: EIP driver

Through a comprehensive and well-organized collaboration between its partners, the EIP aims to:

• Reduce Europe’s import dependency on raw materials
• Push Europe to the forefront of the raw materials sectors by 2020 (in exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution
• Provide alternatives for supply, and
• Decrease negative environmental impacts.

To enable these objectives, the chemical sector will play a key role in developing innovative solutions in raw materials across the whole value chain. The chemical contribution will include:

• New technologies replacing those relying on critical raw materials
• New products design incorporating more efficient use of raw materials, easier recyclability and recovery (see Figure below for current recycle rates for 60 metals) or substitution for alternative products
• New processes enabling efficient use of raw materials and recovery and raw materials re-use
• More sustainable products for extraction and recycling of minerals, metals and other materials
• Developing synergies and ensuring efficiency by bridging with other promising initiatives such as the proposed SPIRE Public PrivatePartnership, the EIP on Water to tackle water reuse and recycling, the CRM_InnoNet FP7 project on Critical Raw Materials Substitution, and the EU policy initiative on Key Enabling Technologies (KETs)
• Engaging the networks of the European and Nationals Technology Platforms for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem).

 Clearly chemistry has a critical role to play in the success of the Critical Raw Material EIP!

Help SusChem develop its Materials Technologies IAP!

SusChem is organizing its first workshop on Materials Technologies on 5 March 2013 within the frame of the technology platform’s new collaborative strategy. The strategy looks to enhance synergies between European value chains and fostering materials innovation is a key issue. Your input is vital!

The meeting will rejuvenate and reinvigorate the activities of the SusChem’s Materials Technologies Working Group. The meeting on March 5 2013 will be held in Brussels Sheraton Airport Hotel with discussions organized around three priority value chains: construction, transport and energy.

The SusChem Materials Technology Workshop has the objectives to update the SusChem Implementation Action Plan (IAP), identify the existing technology gaps within the IAP, and to connect the results with the main value chains on SusChem’s agenda including highlighting innovations that can have an impact across numerous value chains.

Strategy and partnership
In 2012, SusChem initiated a new inclusive and open innovation strategy in collaboration with other European Technology Platforms (ETPs) to improve synergies between European value chains. As a result, SusChem is now involved in many of the major European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) such as water, raw materials, smart-cities and communities, and initiatives such as key enabling technologies (KETs), all with a specific focus on the needs of value chains. Aligned with this strategy, SusChem has also been active in the establishment of the SPIRE PPP and the EeB (Energy efficient Buildings) PPP proposals.

To support the development of roadmaps for these ambitious initiatives, SusChem is actively participating in selected Coordination Support Actions under the European Commission’s FP7 research programme including Building-Up (on Energy Efficient Buildings), R4R (preparing the ground for calls related to resource efficiency for SPIRE and other programmes), BIOCHEM and Bio-Tic (both related to bioeconomy issues), and ChemWater (working on water resource efficiency).

Material support
In 2010, SusChem published an up-dated IAP on materials technologies that covered materials research and innovation in several fields including construction, energy, transport, health, textiles and ICT. The IAP now requires a further review in the light of progress in research, changes in industry priorities and the business environment.

Clearly, materials technologies constitute a horizontal research and innovation theme that is intimately related to many different value chains. However, innovations in materials technologies are often, at least initially, developed independently of any value chain leading to delays in implementation and missed opportunities.

To help reconcile this situation, a new EU funded project has been launched: MatVal - a value chain approach to materials research and innovation. This project, which aims at identifying the common points of research and innovation between the main stakeholders involved with materials technologies, involves the major ETPs related to steel, textiles, advanced materials, sustainable chemistry and mineral resources.

To efficiently implement the SusChem materials agenda in the MatVal project, and convey our key messages on materials research and innovation to the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation in the build up to Horizon 2020, SusChem needs your expertise and your insights! The workshop is the place to make your input.

Get involved!
Join this SusChem meeting and share your expertise and knowledge to enhance the materials of the future! To register your participation, or to obtain more information on the workshop, please get in touch with SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki at Cefic.

European Materials Community Comes Together

Today (7 February) in Rome will see the launch of the first ever initiative to bring together the whole materials community in Europe. A new partnership and networking initiative for materials research and innovation is taking shape this week, as the MatVal project holds its launch meeting on 7 and 8 February in the Italian capital. The launch event, which gathers high-level policymakers, R&D experts, material developers, suppliers and end users from across Europe, is a fantastic opportunity to address major sectors such as energy, transport, health and construction. European research and innovation in materials is now a united effort!

In 2010, a group of European Technology Platforms (EuMaT, Textiles and Clothing, SusChem, Manufuture, Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies, Steel Technology and Sustainable Mineral Resources) decided to join forces to link their strong materials research agendas and coordinate their activities in this area. This was an unprecedented move to improve the way materials innovations are being developed in Europe. The Alliance for Materials (A4M) was created.

With MatVal, an EU-funded project, A4M enters its implementation phase by creating the conditions for a significant enlargement of the network to include all sectors active along value chains. The project will bring together the relevant stakeholders from the European materials community for a real integration of voices and visions.

“Europe is now equipped with a multi-stakeholder forum to develop and share a single view on materials needs”, says Dr Marco Falzetti, A4M chairman and MatVal coordinator. "Our objective is to speed up the implementation of material innovations towards end-user market applications.”

Advanced materials will play a significant part in the development of future goods and services, and MatVal will ensure that key materials innovations are identified, supported and delivered to the market in a timely manner. “A4M is a new way of thinking”, Dr Falzetti continues. “This launch event marks major strides towards an integrated materials agenda in Europe”.

About MatVal
The MatVal project is funded via the European Commission’s FP7 research programme. The full project name is ‘Alliance for Materials – A value chain approach to materials research and innovation’. The project is coordinated by Centro Sviluppo Materiali SPA (CSM). A website for the project will be launched in the next few weeks.

The full list of MatVal partners is:

• Centro Sviluppo Materiali SPA (CSM)
• Conseil Européen de l’Industrie Chimique (Cefic)
• The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
• European Apparel and Textile confederation
• ArcelorMittal Maizières Research SA
• TWI limited
• European Virtual Institute on Knowledge-based multifunctional Materials AISBL
• European Materials Research Society
• Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Instytut Metali Niezlanych
• Federation of European Materials societies
• Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.

Biobased Future: BioCouture

The ‘Leading IB: A UK Showcase’ event that took place in London on 22 – 23 January highlighted many inspirational developments and opportunities in industrial biotechnology, biobased products and sustainable manufacturing. But one presentation in particular took SusChem’s eye as an excellent insight into the possibilities that new biobased materials can bring to high fashion and design.

Suzanne Lee is founder and Director of BioCouture Limited, a small UK-based fashion business, which has a literally huge potential for growth. Her fascinating presentation on the future for biobased materials from a design perspective was a highlight of the second morning of the ‘Leading: IB’ event.

Suzanne was until recently a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Fashion and Textiles, Central Saint Martins London and her BioCouture project was initiated there working with scientific colleagues at Imperial College London.

Green tea
The biobased material that Suzanne uses to assemble her clothes has the texture of fine leather but is grown by the bacteria that are usually used to turn green tea into the fermented beverage kombucha. As the bacteria digest sugar added to a fermenting broth of green tea they produce a mat of cellulose (the same base material of fabrics such as cotton), which Lee harvests and dries. Suzanne talks about the process in a video recorded at a TED event in 2011 below.

The resulting fabric, a flexible ‘vegetable-leather’ that has a novel skin-like texture and appearance, can be moulded or sewn into apparel such as shirts and coats. It can also be easily dyed using, for example, iron pigments or indigo.

A current drawback is the hydrophilic nature of the material, but that is being worked on with expert advice from Imperial College and others on using alternative bacteria to introduce hydrophobic properties and also to better align the cellulose molecules as the fabric grows.

Biobased beauty
But the fabric has excellent sustainability credentials. Although the volumes of material being produced are, at the moment, small and Lee uses them to produce apparel and luxury products, the resources needed to make the fabric are minimal: just a few microbes that can multiply and feed on waste.

The process is considerably lighter on resources than conventional textiles. If you compare a BioCouture jacket with one made with conventional cotton the BioCouture item uses around 50 litres of water compared to many thousands of litres used in the normal process.

From all angles BioCouture looks like a potentially smart and sustainable addition to the global wardrobe.

Inspiration for Europe!

Members of the European Parliament, senior European Commission officials and a packed meeting room of stakeholders, supporters and the public participated in an inspirational lunch debate on the proposed SPIRE PPP on Thursday 24 January. The potential value of SPIRE to lead a new industrial revolution in Europe for sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness was outlined. Through its ambitious, but achievable, research and innovation agenda to improve resource and energy efficiency in the process industries, SPIRE can make a huge difference to Europe. And it is ready to run now!

The lunch time debate was hosted by Amalia Sartori, MEP chairwoman of the ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee of Parliament in association with A.SPIRE (the European Association for Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency) the organisation that is managing and coordinating the Public Private Partnership (PPP) proposal.

Revolution
The debate was entitled a ‘New industrial (R)evolution through the SPIRE Public Private Partnership’. Opening the debate Madame Sartori (below, left) outlined the EU’s priorities to regain high rates of employment, boost competitiveness and ensure greater social cohesion. Within this strategy a rejuvenated industrial policy was essential.

“We need to have a new industrial revolution that gives voice to the manufacturing system that is the real economy of Europe,” said Mme Sartori. “We need the will and resources to bet on the sectors that can make the difference [to competitiveness].”

“We must fill the gap between the market and research and the creation of a PPP is one way to fill this gap,” she added. “We need instruments that can increase our competitiveness and allow us to address the great challenges that face our continent: we need industry - and industry needs us. SPIRE is perfectly aligned with Europe's needs – the European Parliament will pay strong attention to the outcomes of this debate.”

Reduce, reuse, replace, reinvent
A.SPIRE President Klaus Sommer of Bayer (above, right) responded by outlining the ambitions and objectives for SPIRE. He suggested that SPIRE’s coherent and integrated vision could help “close the circle” of the various European policy proposals in research, innovation and competitiveness.

The eight industrial sectors involved in SPIRE all have a clear commitment and track record in innovation: the essential bridge from research to the market. The SPIRE proposal exploits the synergies and commonalities between sectors that represent 20% of the EU’s economy with a focus on innovation for resource and energy efficiency.

“SPIRE is also a partnership involving industry, academics and research and technology organisation as stakeholders,” said Dr. Sommer. “The PPP is the glue.”

“Reduce, reuse, replace, reinvent are the four words that summarise SPIRE’s research and innovation road map,” stated Dr. Sommer. “Our aim is to decouple economic growth from use of resources.”

Summarising the SPIRE PPP Dr Sommer stated” “SPIRE is a broad commitment from eight industrial sectors in Europe representing a combined turnover of some € 1.6 trillion. SPIRE will help Europe's competitiveness through its focus on societal needs. If the policy environment is also prepared then SPIRE is ready to go!”

Future trend
Enrico Gibellieri, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) described how SPIRE resonated with the opinions of the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) within EESC.

He stated: “The SPIRE PPP is the most important initiative in this field. It is changing the approach to research and innovation policy in Europe and showing the future trend.”

Mr. Gibellieri (above, left) commended this bottom-up approach – initiated by the establishment of technology platforms, such as SusChem, in 2003-4 – as the way to ensure that the real needs of industry and society were at the heart of research and innovation policy.

“These initiatives are important to re-establish industry at its rightful place in Europe,” he concluded.

Research efficiency
The final speaker was Waldemar Kutt (below), Deputy Head of Cabinet with Research Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn. He described the value of SPIRE with respect to another limited resource: public finance. “Research efficiency and resource efficiency are important for all areas,” he said. “We have to do more with less.”

He agreed that SPIRE is fully in line with a range of European policy initiatives. “Only through working closer with industry will we manage to bridge the innovation gap in Europe,” he said.

He praised the ability of SPIRE to coordinate a single voice for whole industry and articulate clearly what is needed for industry to successfully innovate – this was very constructive. Clear measurable objectives were needed to demonstrate the success of the PPP and other policy requirements outside research and innovation, such as standards, were needed to make sure the road to market was clear.

“Co-operation with SPIRE is on a good track,” he concluded and he looked forward to a successful outcome for the PPP.

Consensus
A lively question and answer session followed that reinforced the compelling arguments for the SPIRE approach and the remarkable consensus that has developed between policy makers and industry about the need to improve the way we manage resources and energy, especially when these are rare or finite.

Industry has a responsibility and a unique ability to respond to these challenges facing society. This lunch debate showed that it is responding in an innovative, open and transparent way.

A number of MEPs contributed to the discussion. Lambert van Nistelrooij was very supportive and congratulated all those involved on the SPIRE initiative. He described the PPP as: “Absolutely necessary and a first for industrial leadership to bring sectors together in such a way for innovation along the value chain.”

Van Nistelrooij also reminded participants that regional funding for smart specialisation and innovation should also be a key element in an integrated approach to industrial innovation. “The SPIRE PPP can do a lot but in a comprehensive, European way,” he concluded.

Maria Da Graça Carvalho also praised the initiative and applauded the increased prominence of essential industrial priorities into the research and innovation agenda. She approved of improving existing industrial processes but asked if new processes were envisaged?

Klaus Sommer replied that initially cross sector communication would bring transfer processes across sectors but new, disruptive processes were also envisaged. Gernot Klotz of Cefic added that SPIRE would also take the first steps to achieve a “negative CO2 economy” – one in which carbon dioxide was used as a feedstock.

SPIRE’s high ambitions are matched by strong industrial commitment on an unprecedented scale and, through it, Europe can make a giant leap to enhance its competitiveness and sustainability and achieve its goals for smart, inclusive and sustainable growth.

To find more information on the SPIRE project, its objectives and how you could be involved, visit the SPIRE website or contact the A.SPIRE secretariat.