Through innovation and applied research, VALCELMAT aims to support businesses, growth and the revival of economic activity. This project is in line with the demands of
consumers and thus economic players. The main objective is to design on a pilot scale new materials that can then be used as new, more environmentally friendly ways of packaging, textiles and composites. Of course, this philosophy goes hand in hand with an approach that is not only ecological but also socially responsible.

From a scientific point of view, the VALCELMAT project aims to add value to cellulose, one of the most abundant and renewable polysaccharides on Earth, in new applications such as packaging, textiles and additives for bioplastics and biocomposites in the broadest sense. Cellulose, which can be easily and cheaply extracted from plant biomass, will be modified in an environmentally responsible manner using sustainable chemistry or enzymatic processes to give it new functionalities (barrier to microorganisms, barrier to gases, resistance to moisture and fire) while maintaining its intrinsic properties (absence of toxicity and biodegradation). The modifications will be carried out using innovative, environmentally friendly batch and continuous processes, particularly reactive extrusion, with a view to scaling up for market applications. The beneficiaries of this project are entities from the paper, textile and plastic industries, which means that the application areas will be diversified, resulting in economic developments for the regions due to the presence of this type of industry in the VALCELMAT impact area.

Our approach requires the interconnection of different skills, both human and material. To bring this project to fruition, we created a consortium of academic, industrial and institutional partners geographically dispersed across the program's impact area.The fact that some partners had already worked with each other was an advantage in developing our consortium.As a result, we have entities that “know” each other.
Moreover, some partners, such as UArtois and MaNo, have already worked together in an INTERREG FWF program that will be completed in 2019. UGent and MaNo also collaborated on a project funded by INTERREG FWVl, which ended in 2022.
The innovative aspect of our VALCELMAT project regarding the different materials targeted by the introduction or coating of modified bio-based compounds is a plus. In fact, we are targeting different markets here and we do not want to design a product for only one area, but rather design analog/homologous compounds for different applications. The application-oriented side of our project is an essential element, and we constantly keep in mind the possibility and obligation to produce on a larger scale.