New Zealand awards grant funds to study hand sanitizer production from grape marc

In New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has awarded funding to Bragato Research Institute for a pilot study that explores transforming grape marc – the skins and seeds remaining after pressing – into hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer from the study will be donated to Marlborough health workers and first responders.

The funding comes from the MBIE COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund, which was created to accelerate research and projects that support COVID responses, and to provide rapid, short-term support to develop and quickly deploy products, processes and services.

In the short term, this eight-month study will deliver ethanol-based hand sanitiser, which will be bottled and donated. Longer term, the project explores the business opportunity for the industry to turn waste into this new product, including more information on costs, infrastructure needed and technical findings specific to grape marc produced in New Zealand.