Frequently Asked Questions
BORN is one of the winning projects of the 2024 EIC Pathfinder Challenges call. In BORN we will develop a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) formulation with very high crystallization rate, to fabricate recyclable, biodegradable and thermal-resistant food packaging. It addresses the main limitation of current biobased polymers, which typically cannot withstand temperatures higher than 55-60 °C. The project covers the entire life cycle of the material—from "birth" to "end-of-life”
Thermal resistance is a challenge for many biobased polymers, because they crystallize slowly and easily remain amorphous. Amorphous polymers collapse when heated to their glass transition temperature (Tg), which is 60 °C in the case of PLA.
Crystallization rate refers to the rate at which crystals develop, generally via nucleation and growth.
Polymer crystallization rate can be fastened by increasing both nucleation and growth steps, eg. by addition of nucleating agents, external particles able to initiate heterogeneous nucleation, or by addition of plasticizers that favor the polymer chain mobility towards the crystal growth front, enhancing the crystal growth rate.
Polymer crystallization proceeds via crystal nucleation and growth. Nucleating agents are additives that provide sites (“nuclei”) where crystals can start their growth. BORN is developing a novel nucleating agent that aims to double the efficiency of commercial nucleating agents, allowing to sizably increase the crystallization rate of PLA, and produce a material able to withstand temperatures of up to 100 °C.
BORN specifically targets compostable, microwavable containers (trays) for ready-to-eat meals, low-cost cups for hot beverages, and flexible films.
BORN material is designed to be fully suitable for food contact. It will meet high sanitary standards to ensure food safety, extend shelf life, and retain the nutritional properties of the packaged food.
BORN implements the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework from the earliest stages of polymer synthesis and material development to the end-of-life routes. This approach ensures the minimization or avoidance of substances with adverse effects on human health, climate, and the environment.
BORN evaluates both recycling and biodegradation routes. BORN will assess material recovery through mechanical and biotechnological recycling. Simultaneously, it will validate the biodegradability of the materials and additives in controlled environments (composting, anaerobic digestion) and open environments (soil and aquatic systems), including hazard and ecotoxicity testing.
All public deliverables, peer-reviewed publications, and open datasets will be available for download in the "Results hub" on the official project website. Scientific publications will be 100% Open Access and deposited in trusted repositories like Zenodo.
Companies can engage by attending our technical dissemination, or visiting our exhibition booths at industrial trade fairs like Ecomondo, or contacting the consortium via the website or social media pages to explore business models and exploitation pathways (info@born-project.eu).
Members of the scientific community can stay updated on our progress and findings through several channels: 1) Open Access Publications (all our primary research results will be published in peer-reviewed, open-access journals); 2) International Conferences (where our partners will regularly present technical breakthroughs and project milestones); 3) Webinars & Seminars (we will host dedicated technical webinars and Seminar Days specifically designed for PhD students and early-career researchers to dive deep into our methodology).
All upcoming dissemination events, publication links, and speaking engagements are announced right here on the BORN website and via our social media channels.
The BORN project started on October 1, 2025, and has a total duration of 36 months, running until September 30, 2028.
All upcoming dissemination events, publication links, and speaking engagements are announced right here on the BORN website and via our social media channels.
BORN official channels include project website (www.born-project.eu) and social media profiles on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-biobased-thermal-reisistant-food-packaging
X (Twitter): BORN_EIC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583133803052
BORN is part of the EIC "Nature-inspired alternatives" Challenge Portfolio. We actively collaborate with sister projects (Bio4PAK, SatisPHAction, Cellagri, ECOSYSTEM, Bio2PEs) through joint working groups for technological synergies, to overcome regulatory barriers, share market visions, and host joint events under the shared hashtag #eicCircularBioPlastics
Key targets include reaching 7,000 unique website visitors, gathering >2,000 social media followers, publishing >300 social posts, releasing >20 Open Access scientific publications, and participating in >30 academic conferences and 4 major industrial trade fairs.
You can subscribe to our biannual newsletter by using the opt-in subscription form available on the BORN official website, during our events, or by sending request to info@born-project.eu.
Communication focuses on raising awareness and promoting the project to broad audiences (like citizens, NGOs, and the media). Dissemination focuses on the structured transfer of validated scientific and technical results to professional, industrial, and academic communities for reuse and market adoption.
All public-facing communication must avoid disclosing sensitive or confidential information. An internal validation and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) screening process is applied before any public release to safeguard patentability and legitimate commercial interests.
Specific key roles were appointed in BORN, to ensure quality information and data management.
Quality Manager (QM) - ensures that the project follows the rules laid out in the Quality Management Plan. QM has the power to "reject" a document internally if it doesn't meet the required standards, even before it reaches the Coordinator's desk.
Dissemination Manager (DM) – Coordinates the projects dissemination activities and makes sure these happen strategically and are in line with the processes and plan defined in the Plan for Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (DEC).
Data Manager (DaMa) – Defines and coordinates procedures for collection, validation and publication of data, ensuring that project data is FAIR by overseeing the creation and implementation of the Data Management Plan.
Exploitation Manager (EM) – Responsible for the future exploitation of the project’s outputs and activities. It is envisaged that this will happen primarily through assessment of market conditions and penetration capacity, considering the identification of market opportunities and threats (SWOT), potential demands, market sizes, trends and gaps, possible competitors, specific market niches, etc, with special emphasis placed on IPR protection (e.g., patents).
Yes, our standard event structure includes recording webinars when appropriate. The recordings and materials are then archived and can be made available as part of our evidence and resource hub.
Participations are systematically tracked using a central reporting register. For every event, we capture an evidence pack that includes the agenda, participant counts, presentation slides, photos, and any follow-up actions.
Before submitting any scientific article, authors must follow a workflow that includes a review by all partners and a strict IPR/patentability check. Only after the key exploitable results are adequately protected does the publication proceed, ensuring Open Access and FAIR data principles.
It refers to a group of projects funded under the same EIC Challenge that cooperate to unlock additional value. Guided by an EIC Programme Manager, the portfolio projects share a Strategic Plan and collaborate on technological, regulatory, and commercial synergies to accelerate their transition to the market.
Citizens will benefit from having safe, biobased packaging that actually works for hot food (like microwavable meals) without leaking harmful substances. Ultimately, it builds a safer path to reduce fossil-plastic pollution and ensures clear end-of-life disposal, such as composting.
Waste management and recycling stakeholders can engage through our technical workshops, targeted webinars, and technical notes. Their feedback regarding recyclability routes, contamination risks, and process windows will be systematically captured to improve the end-of-life validation of our materials
How does the project avoid greenwashing?
By relying strictly on validated evidence. BORN applies comprehensive Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) alongside the SPHERE framework and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles. Environmental claims are backed by rigorous, standardized testing of biodegradability and ecotoxicity in both controlled and open environments.
BORN is one of the winning projects of the 2024 EIC Pathfinder Challenges call. In BORN we will develop a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) formulation with very high crystallization rate, to fabricate recyclable, biodegradable and thermal-resistant food packaging. It addresses the main limitation of current biobased polymers, which typically cannot withstand temperatures higher than 55-60 °C. The project covers the entire life cycle of the material—from "birth" to "end-of-life”
Thermal resistance is a challenge for many biobased polymers, because they crystallize slowly and easily remain amorphous. Amorphous polymers collapse when heated to their glass transition temperature (Tg), which is 60 °C in the case of PLA.
Crystallization rate refers to the rate at which crystals develop, generally via nucleation and growth.
Polymer crystallization rate can be fastened by increasing both nucleation and growth steps, eg. by addition of nucleating agents, external particles able to initiate heterogeneous nucleation, or by addition of plasticizers that favor the polymer chain mobility towards the crystal growth front, enhancing the crystal growth rate.
Polymer crystallization proceeds via crystal nucleation and growth. Nucleating agents are additives that provide sites (“nuclei”) where crystals can start their growth. BORN is developing a novel nucleating agent that aims to double the efficiency of commercial nucleating agents, allowing to sizably increase the crystallization rate of PLA, and produce a material able to withstand temperatures of up to 100 °C.
BORN specifically targets compostable, microwavable containers (trays) for ready-to-eat meals, low-cost cups for hot beverages, and flexible films.
BORN material is designed to be fully suitable for food contact. It will meet high sanitary standards to ensure food safety, extend shelf life, and retain the nutritional properties of the packaged food.
BORN implements the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework from the earliest stages of polymer synthesis and material development to the end-of-life routes. This approach ensures the minimization or avoidance of substances with adverse effects on human health, climate, and the environment.
BORN evaluates both recycling and biodegradation routes. BORN will assess material recovery through mechanical and biotechnological recycling. Simultaneously, it will validate the biodegradability of the materials and additives in controlled environments (composting, anaerobic digestion) and open environments (soil and aquatic systems), including hazard and ecotoxicity testing.
All public deliverables, peer-reviewed publications, and open datasets will be available for download in the "Results hub" on the official project website. Scientific publications will be 100% Open Access and deposited in trusted repositories like Zenodo.
Companies can engage by attending our technical dissemination, or visiting our exhibition booths at industrial trade fairs like Ecomondo, or contacting the consortium via the website or social media pages to explore business models and exploitation pathways (info@born-project.eu).
Members of the scientific community can stay updated on our progress and findings through several channels: 1) Open Access Publications (all our primary research results will be published in peer-reviewed, open-access journals); 2) International Conferences (where our partners will regularly present technical breakthroughs and project milestones); 3) Webinars & Seminars (we will host dedicated technical webinars and Seminar Days specifically designed for PhD students and early-career researchers to dive deep into our methodology).
All upcoming dissemination events, publication links, and speaking engagements are announced right here on the BORN website and via our social media channels.
The BORN project started on October 1, 2025, and has a total duration of 36 months, running until September 30, 2028.
All upcoming dissemination events, publication links, and speaking engagements are announced right here on the BORN website and via our social media channels.
BORN official channels include project website (www.born-project.eu) and social media profiles on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-biobased-thermal-reisistant-food-packaging
X (Twitter): BORN_EIC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583133803052
BORN is part of the EIC "Nature-inspired alternatives" Challenge Portfolio. We actively collaborate with sister projects (Bio4PAK, SatisPHAction, Cellagri, ECOSYSTEM, Bio2PEs) through joint working groups for technological synergies, to overcome regulatory barriers, share market visions, and host joint events under the shared hashtag #eicCircularBioPlastics
Key targets include reaching 7,000 unique website visitors, gathering >2,000 social media followers, publishing >300 social posts, releasing >20 Open Access scientific publications, and participating in >30 academic conferences and 4 major industrial trade fairs.
You can subscribe to our biannual newsletter by using the opt-in subscription form available on the BORN official website, during our events, or by sending request to info@born-project.eu.
Communication focuses on raising awareness and promoting the project to broad audiences (like citizens, NGOs, and the media). Dissemination focuses on the structured transfer of validated scientific and technical results to professional, industrial, and academic communities for reuse and market adoption.
All public-facing communication must avoid disclosing sensitive or confidential information. An internal validation and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) screening process is applied before any public release to safeguard patentability and legitimate commercial interests.
Specific key roles were appointed in BORN, to ensure quality information and data management.
Quality Manager (QM) - ensures that the project follows the rules laid out in the Quality Management Plan. QM has the power to "reject" a document internally if it doesn't meet the required standards, even before it reaches the Coordinator's desk.
Dissemination Manager (DM) – Coordinates the projects dissemination activities and makes sure these happen strategically and are in line with the processes and plan defined in the Plan for Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (DEC).
Data Manager (DaMa) – Defines and coordinates procedures for collection, validation and publication of data, ensuring that project data is FAIR by overseeing the creation and implementation of the Data Management Plan.
Exploitation Manager (EM) – Responsible for the future exploitation of the project’s outputs and activities. It is envisaged that this will happen primarily through assessment of market conditions and penetration capacity, considering the identification of market opportunities and threats (SWOT), potential demands, market sizes, trends and gaps, possible competitors, specific market niches, etc, with special emphasis placed on IPR protection (e.g., patents).
Yes, our standard event structure includes recording webinars when appropriate. The recordings and materials are then archived and can be made available as part of our evidence and resource hub.
Participations are systematically tracked using a central reporting register. For every event, we capture an evidence pack that includes the agenda, participant counts, presentation slides, photos, and any follow-up actions.
Before submitting any scientific article, authors must follow a workflow that includes a review by all partners and a strict IPR/patentability check. Only after the key exploitable results are adequately protected does the publication proceed, ensuring Open Access and FAIR data principles.
It refers to a group of projects funded under the same EIC Challenge that cooperate to unlock additional value. Guided by an EIC Programme Manager, the portfolio projects share a Strategic Plan and collaborate on technological, regulatory, and commercial synergies to accelerate their transition to the market.
Citizens will benefit from having safe, biobased packaging that actually works for hot food (like microwavable meals) without leaking harmful substances. Ultimately, it builds a safer path to reduce fossil-plastic pollution and ensures clear end-of-life disposal, such as composting.
Waste management and recycling stakeholders can engage through our technical workshops, targeted webinars, and technical notes. Their feedback regarding recyclability routes, contamination risks, and process windows will be systematically captured to improve the end-of-life validation of our materials
By relying strictly on validated evidence. BORN applies comprehensive Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) alongside the SPHERE framework and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles. Environmental claims are backed by rigorous, standardized testing of biodegradability and ecotoxicity in both controlled and open environments.
It is a legal requirement under the Grant Agreement to ensure proper visibility of EU funding. It explicitly states: "Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority"
Yes, partner amplification is highly encouraged. The institutional profiles of the consortium partners are expected to share and repost project results, videos, and newsletters on their own channels, using the official hashtags (like #eicCircularBioPlastics) to increase reach.
In Month 36, BORN will host a final international closing conference where all project results and final prototypes will be presented. This event will also feature dedicated exploitation sessions aimed at investors and strategic partners, supported by a final media press kit.
Media enquiries can be directed to info@born-project.eu.
Alternatively, specific contact points are BORN coordinator (Maria Laura Di Lorenzo, CNR, marialaura.dilorenzo@cnr.it), BORN dissemination manager (Lorena Affatato, CNR, lorena.affatato@cnr.it) and the communication team at TECNO (Eva Sanchis, esanchis@tecnopackaging.com).
