School of Engineering professor Francesco Stellacci has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant to develop multilayer films derived from natural materials that could serve as a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging.The European Research Council (ERC) today announced the names of 182 ERC grantees to be awarded the Proof of Concept Grants, including Francesco Stellacci, head of the Supramolecular Nano-Materials and Interfaces Laboratory (SuNMIL) in EPFL's School of Engineering. He received a grant for his project, Sustainable High-Performance Protein-based Multilayer Films (SHiPs).Funding for this first round of grants in 2026 is worth €27.3 million. Each €150,000 Proof of Concept grant helps current and recent ERC grantees to explore the commercial or societal potential of their research findings. This grant scheme is part of the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe.Abstract: Sustainable High-Performance Protein-based Multilayer Films (SHiPs) Replacing synthetic plastics with circular-economy-ready materials is one of the key challenges for a sustainable future. Natural materials, especially waste streams-derived ones, are promising alternatives. Yet, they suffer from limited performance, especially at high relative humidity (RH). To date, the only solution is to use synthetic additives that increase performance, while undermining overall sustainability. We developed an approach to address these limitations based on multilayers of natural materials (food-waste-derived proteins and natural oils). Cross-linking (CL) with a single type of dynamic covalent bond allows excellent adhesion control (inter-layer CL) and good modulation of the layer properties (intra-layer CL). These materials are engineered for three end-of-life scenarios. They can be recycled by chemically leading the initial layers (to re-form the original films), biochemically leading to useful amino acids, or by biodegradation in the environment. To date our films maintain 90% of their Young’s modulus at 75% RH, and the oxygen and water-vapor barrier proprieties, when taken together, outperform most common packaging polymers. We have strategies to improve further these performances. Many are the possible applications for sustainable materials that outperform their synthetic counterparts. We will focus on single use-food containers, a large and booming market dominated by unsustainable plastics. The project is designed to produce functional prototypes to be convincing tools to leverage further funding to create a new company based on these materials. To achieve this goal, we will address all the current shortcomings by: • Replacing plasticizers with covalently linked molecules to avoid losses when in contact with food; • Replacing natural oils with food-waste derived lipids; • Adding cellulose to enhance performance; • Identifying key market needs and setting a path for commercialization; • Performing complete life-cycle and cost-structure assessments.