SURFs UP project is a new EU co-funded project by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) and Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), aimed at transforming the surfactant market through biological and green chemical solutions.
Why is SURFs UP a game-changer?
1. Market Growth: The biosurfactant market is one of the most promising segments of surfactants market.
2. Integrated Approach: We employ sustainable production routes from (waste) biomass feedstocks, adhering to Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) criteria. This approach will allow a dramatic transformation by offering a broad diversity of safe and sustainable alternatives at reasonable costs.
3. Innovation and Applications: SURFs UP focuses on nine new-to-market biosurfactant ingredients, each designed to meet various functional and application needs, ensuring a wide market potential.
Over the next 42 months, 12 partners will collaborate to develop and deploy 9 biosurfactants, all produced following Safe and Sustainable by Design approaches.
The iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences team (Frederico Ferreira, Nuno Faria, Luis P. Fonseca, Teresa Esteves) is a partner in this project and will focus on the development of mannosylerythritol lipids, ceramide-like biosurfactants.