The object of the technology is the development of a transferable methodology from the laboratory scale to the pilot scale to be validated in the industrial setting for the treatment of basic waste of natural polymers of agro-food or manufacturing industry. Physical, chemical or a combination of methods for obtaining natural macromolecules can be used in the preparation of mixtures and / or composites, "green" materials that can represent the secondary raw material to be transformed through typical processing equipment of plastic materials (filming, injection molding, 3D printing). Examples of workable waste are legumes, potato, tomato, hemp, fish scales, mollusc exoskeleton, wool, animal skin, paper. In chemical treatments, the use of solvents with high solvent power that can be easily regenerated and reused and from which the polymer of interest can be recovered with a simplified superstructure compared to that assumed in nature will be preferred. Physical methods include the use of microwaves or ultrasounds, which are able to disaggregate natural structures. Combined methods can be used especially in cases where the natural polymer is sensitive to certain chemical-physical parameters such as pH, temperature.
The innovative aspects that characterize this technology must be sought in its capability to move inside a circular economy approach, allowing the identification of innovative processes for the treatment of agri-food and manufacturing industry waste characterized by being organic in nature. It is a technology whose development is strongly connected to the detailed knowledge of the chemical nature of the starting material in order to be able to correlate the structure with the properties from the macroscopic scale to the nanometer scale. The technology highlights the versatility of these materials and / or biomolecules to be modified in a controlled and designed manner on the basis of functional and applicative characteristics and properties. The application of chemical and physical treatment methods with reduced environmental impact combined with the molecular knowledge of the starting material allows the planning of the methodological approach by creating a one-to-one relationship between knowing how to design and knowing how to implement.