RELIANCE Poster Presentation at FTAL 2024 Conference on Circular Economy

Researchers from Haute Ecole d’Ingénierie et d’Architecture de Fribourg (HEIA-FR) showcased RELIANCE results at FTAL 2024 conference on Circular Economy held in November 2024 at Campus Est, Lugano-Viganello, Switzerland.  With a poster presentation titled “Valorizing Agro-Industrial Waste: Exploring Antimicrobial Peptides Prepared from Feather Keratin”, with lead author Justine Horner, HEIA-FR’s team displayed the progress on studying the potential of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from feather keratin, a waste product of the poultry industry. Different methods for peptides’ extraction and purification had been explored, while taking into consideration their size and structural characteristics in order to optimize their antimicrobial activity. Preliminary results are promising, detecting activity against viruses and Gram-negative bacteria. The work in the coming months will involve chemical coupling of the AMPs with the synthesized nanoparticles and applying them to surfaces though cold atmospheric plasma deposition.  

The Conference organized by the Association of Swiss Schools of Engineering, Architecture and Life Sciences (FTAL) reflects the significance of the circular economy concept, leading to a growing number of governmental, societal and business stakeholders to take major initiatives in their quest for promising cyclical models as an alternative to the current linear ones. More than 200 people attended the conference, validating the paramount importance of circular economy for reducing environmental impact, creating fair economic opportunities and building valuable models capable of facing challenging global dynamics.

The goals of FTAL 2024 Conference on Circular Economy were as follows:

• Promoting exchanges between the different disciplines encompassed by Circular Economy, offering new insights and research challenges.
• Receiving new input from international experts to advance the current research.
• Connecting practitioners and researchers to mutually boost development of grounded theories and their application.
• Presenting the state-of-the-art of circular frameworks and solutions.

Presentations included the state of the art of today’s research but also addressed topics such as resource efficiency, value retention, localization, circular environment, circular bioeconomy and other new business, production and market approaches.