44th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (2016) - Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury
The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva is the world’s largest annual event devoted exclusively to inventions and the licensing market.
In this project, we aim at studying a novel bioprocess using food wastes for the sustainable production of polylactic acid fibre in textile application. The outcomes of the proposed project are expected to contribute in sustainable production of polylactic acid fibre production, and novel approaches of food waste treatment.
This innovation tackles both the issue of food waste and sustainable production of PLA fibre. In Hong Kong, there are around 3,600 tonnes of food waste generated, which is made up of 40% of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Fifty-two percent (52%) of the MSW generated is dumped into landfills. It is estimated that by 2018, all current landfill sites in Hong Kong will be exhausted. Exploiting food waste and by-product streams generated by the food industry for chemical and material production could create integrated, sustainable and bio-based processes.
