The idea on which the team led by Dr. Sara Mecca is working involves the valorisation of agri-food waste such as fruit and vegetable peels to transform them into new materials for green building, packaging and coverings
The project led by the thirty-year-old Sara Meccaresearch fellow of the Department of Materials Sciences of the Bicocca University of Milan “Unlocking the potential of Urban fruit and vegetable waste: a multifaceted approach to sustainable bio-waste treatments” won the award dedicated to Green Transition during the Musa general meeting. But what is it specifically?
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Musa general meeting, the winning project
The idea behind the project that won the award dedicated to Green Transition during the Musa general meeting involves the valorisation of waste of agri-food origin, such as fruit and vegetable peels, in particular those of domestic origin including organic waste produced by homes and commercial activities or pruning residues, in order to transform them into new materials for green building, packaging and coverings.
Sara Mecca’s research activity, which is part of the project MUSA Spoke 1has been in business for a year, and during the third edition of the Musa general meeting it was awarded “for its high innovative content and notable potential technological transfer in favor of the bioplastics industry”.
Musa general meeting
Musa is an initiative that, from 2023, will involve 26 entities, both public and privatewho work on more than 100 research topics thanks to PNRR funds with the aim of studying systems that can have a concrete application in the urban context to make cities more sustainable places from the point of view economic, environmental and social. The Musa general meeting is the event that brings together the hub community to stimulate active discussion between its protagonists and to present the first results of the research process.
The winning project
The objective of the research is not to excessively disintegrate the waste, as happens for example with combustion, but to carry out treatments with low environmental impact, without toxic chemical agents having to be disposed of, so that the structural components of the waste can be directly used to create new materials . The research, currently carried out on waste of a specific type, has confirmed that through the valorisation of the single component it is possible to obtain films for sustainable packaging which meet resistance and waterproofing requirements and other innovative materials including some coatings that can be used in the construction sector.
The future prospect is to create a sustainable and circular network in the production fabric where those who produce waste from a specific agri-food processing can supply the production material to another supply chain. Sara Mecca’s research team is currently working on large-scale tests.
