Emirates Biotech has joined the European Circle consortium, a flagship initiative funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) under the European Union's Horizon Europe programme. The four-year project has a budget of EUR 27 million and brings together 17 partners covering the entire value chain. Its goal is to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind industrial biorefinery that converts organic food waste into high-value bio-based chemicals, including polylactic acid (PLA). The project aims to show that lactic acid and PLA can be produced directly from food waste within a waste management facility, contributing to a reduction of the carbon footprint associated with materials production.
Within the project, Emirates Biotech is responsible for the polymerisation stage of lactic acid derived from food waste. The company will produce high-purity PLA, which will be supplied to other consortium partners for testing, property evaluation and application development. The project plans to develop different PLA grades for end-use applications in areas such as automotive, cosmetics and food packaging. Emirates Biotech's activities in the project are aligned with the schedule for commissioning an industrial PLA plant with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year, planned by the company for 2028.
Scope of Emirates Biotech's work in the Circle project
The key task of Emirates Biotech is to manage the polymerisation process of polymer-grade lactic acid, which will be supplied by the consortium's technology partners. The aim is to convert this feedstock into commercial-grade PLA that meets customer quality requirements and can be used in existing plastics processing operations.
The company highlights the importance of practically demonstrating that high-performance biopolymers can be obtained directly from food waste. As stated by François de Bie, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates Biotech: "Proving that we can derive high-performance biopolymers directly from food waste is a major step forward for the industry. Demand for sustainable materials is growing quickly in sectors like automotive and cosmetics. Our role in the Circle project is to convert polymer-grade lactic acid produced by our partners into commercial-grade PLA that meets those standards and can be used in existing manufacturing processes."
The project envisages the production of different PLA grades tailored to the specifics of individual market segments. In automotive this includes, among others, plastic components that must meet mechanical and thermal requirements; in cosmetics, packaging with appropriate chemical resistance and appearance; in the food packaging sector, structures that meet food contact safety requirements.
Consortium structure and results to date
The Circle consortium brings together entities from across the value chain, including waste management companies, chemical technology providers and global consumer brands. The project is coordinated by TripleW. Partners include, among others, Volkswagen, FrieslandCampina, Davines, Sulzer and Sulapac. The cooperation has a cross-cutting character and connects entities responsible for the collection and preparation of food waste, biochemical conversion, polymer processing and end-use applications.
The consortium has already achieved an important milestone. In September 2025, the first PLA in the world produced on a laboratory scale using only food waste as feedstock was obtained. The participation of Emirates Biotech in the subsequent stages is intended to enable the transition from laboratory scale to industrial scale and to commercial applications.
The project is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking under the Horizon Europe programme, which underlines its importance as a demonstration initiative in the field of the circular bioeconomy. The planned biorefinery is to be integrated with the infrastructure of a waste management facility, enabling the use of locally generated organic waste streams as feedstock for the production of chemicals and materials.
Importance for the PLA market and the circular economy
The development of technologies that enable PLA production from food waste fits into a broader trend of change in the plastics and packaging market. In addition to the potential reduction of the materials' carbon footprint, this concept assumes better resource efficiency by converting waste streams into feedstock for polymer production. In the case of PLA, which is used among others in packaging, consumer products and selected technical components, an additional advantage is its origin from renewable raw materials.
For Emirates Biotech, participation in the Circle consortium is consistent with the company's long-term vision, according to which sustainable materials should become the default commercial choice rather than a compromise. The planned commissioning of a PLA plant with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year in 2028 is intended to enable the translation of the project's demonstration results into a real supply of material on an industrial scale.
Circle consortium project objectives
