Background The production of zinc-coated metal guardrails has a considerable impact on the environment. On the one hand, the energy requirements for their production are very high, while on the other, during the lifetime of these guardrails, a considerable amount of zinc is emitted into the environment via corrosion, which leaches into soils, groundwater and surface water. Zinc adversely influences the biodiversity of plants and micro-organisms, and by accumulating in plants and animals in the food chain can cause human health problems. To overcome these problems, wooden guardrails were fabricated in 2003 that met the relevant legislative and safety requirements, but the concept was not economically competitive. Since then, biopolymer-based pultrusion and extrusion technologies have developed as proven sustainable technologies. These have good potential for producing price-competitive solutions to replace zinc-coated metal guardrails. Objectives The objective of the BG4US LIFE 2015 project is to produce a price-competitive bio-based guardrail, which will be demonstrated along a road. Guardrails are made of three parts: poles, guided rails and tongues. For the poles and guided rails, traditional metal components will be substituted with bio-composites. The project aims to optimise production at an industrial scale, using existing machines. The poles will be produced by an extrusion process, using CoFib (lignocellulose fibres made from agricultural waste or roadside grass) and Solanyl (a second-generation bio-plastic obtained as a side-product of potato processing). The guided rails will be made in a pultrusion process (continuous moulding in which fibres and resin are combined), out of a suitable bio-based resin and PaPEC tapes (produced from the same raw material as CoFib). A 25-metre guardrail prototype will be assembled and pre-tested. Afterwards, crash testing will be performed on an optimised pilot guardrail of 100 m to obtain the necessary certification. Finally, field testing will be performed on a 375 m guardrail at a demonstration site, in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. The new guardrail will provide an environmentally friendly alternative to galvanised zinc guardrails, leading to potential zinc emission reductions of 18.8 tonnes/year in The Netherlands alone. By increasing biopolymer production, the project aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU bioplastics industry, in line with the European Economic Recovery Plan, and to facilitate the substitution of hazardous chemicals in line with the Action Plan for the Circular Economy. It will also help implement the Water Framework Directive and the Soil Thematic Strategy by improving water and soil quality, and benefitting biodiversity. Expected results: Production of individual components needed to assemble 500 m of guardrails: 850 poles and 3 500 m of guided rails; Evaluation for each component, in terms of mechanical properties, heat and fire resistance, form and colour stability, recyclability and waste treatment, and potential bleeding of organic substances from the bio-based components; Optimal process specifications for the production of the poles, including the most suitable bio-polymer and fibre sources needed, along with the optimum ratio of biopolymer to fibre source; Optimised extrusion production process for the poles, including optimisation of bio-polymer and fibres; Optimised pultrusion production process for the guided rails, including optimisation of resin and fibres; Certification of the BG4US LIFE guardrail, after crash-testing trails, followed by the assembly of a demonstration rail along a provincial road or highway; A Life Cycle Analysis of the BG4US LIFE guardrail compared to zinc-coated steel guardrails; and A business plan for the roll out of the BG4US LIFE guardrail concept, via start-up enterprises and with the development of technology licencing.