Science Pulse #07 | By Times Of Um6p
Most startups build apps. A few build tools. Rarely do they build sectors. Enpact is betting on the latter—transforming what we throw away into what Morocco can grow: a new materials economy born from pulp, policy, and purpose.
Morocco discards 60 million tonnes of agricultural residues and 40 million tonnes of mining by-products annually.
Most of this is burned, buried, or abandoned. Yet, paradoxically, the country imports roughly $8 million worth of paper and packaging materials each year—goods it could manufacture from the very waste it discards.
To Prof. Fatima Zahra Semlali, an Assistant Professor in the Materials Science, Energy and Nanoengineering (MSN) Department at UM6P, this contradiction is not just an inefficiency. It’s an opportunity.
“What struck me,” Semlali reflects, “was the sheer volume of what we discard, and how it contrasts with what we import. We’re burning resources we could use, and paying for materials we don’t need.”
Driven by this realization, Semlali founded Enpact, a startup that transforms agricultural and mining waste into high-performance paper and packaging. It’s more than a business venture. It’s a vision for turning environmental externalities into industrial capacity.
The journey began in 2021, during Semlali’s postdoctoral research in biomass valorization. While Morocco’s phosphate industry powers a $7 billion export economy, its by-products—especially phosphate sludge—pose environmental challenges.
These residues, often heavy-metal-laden, sit in open basins with the potential to contaminate groundwater. Meanwhile, farmers across Morocco burn field leftovers—wheat straw, bagasse, and date fronds—releasing up to 20 million tons of CO₂ equivalent per year.
Semlali saw in this waste a resource waiting to be unlocked. The breakthrough came through material science: a multi-step purification process that removes impurities from phosphate sludge using acid leaching, washing, and high-temperature calcination. The outcome is Purified Phosphate Sludge (P-PS), a fine, high-silica powder rivaling traditional fillers like kaolin and calcium carbonate. “We achieved up to 96% impurity removal,” says Semlali. “And when tested against industrial standards, P-PS matched or outperformed conventional mineral additives.”
Engineering an eco-industrial value chain
Enpact’s process combines P-PS with cellulose extracted from agricultural waste to create durable paper and packaging products. The blend is highly customizable: for notebooks, 10–30% P-PS yields tensile strengths of up to 60 MPa; for moisture-resistant packaging, 70–90% P-PS combined with bio-based coatings like chitosan gives a contact angle of over 100°, matching the performance of synthetic alternatives. Each tonne of paper produced diverts 700 kg of sludge from landfills and prevents an estimated 5 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Yet taking this from lab bench to factory floor posed complex engineering challenges.
In UM6P’s lab, the team could produce a single paper sheet in 20 minutes—a week’s work yielded just one agenda. Industrial scale required confronting raw material variability, from moisture levels in crop residues to fluctuating sludge composition.
To adapt, Enpact introduced pre-processing protocols—drying residues to 5% moisture and milling them to consistent grain sizes. High P-PS concentrations, initially a structural liability, were stabilized using cationic starch, achieving 95% filler retention without weakening the product.
A major inflection point came with the acquisition of customized machinery sourced from China.
“It took us six months to find the right supplier,” Semlali says. The pilot line they tested could produce a roll of paper in just 10 minutes using less than one kilogram of input material. The new system, arriving soon, is expected to scale output to 1,000 tonnes per year.
A sector ripe for reinvention
Despite its demand, Morocco’s paper sector remains underdeveloped. “I was surprised to find only 62 registered companies,” says Semlali. “Eighty percent are importers, the rest focus on recycling. No one is producing paper from scratch using local resources.”
Enpact’s cost model is disruptive. Sourcing raw materials locally and eliminating long-distance freight reduces input costs by up to 30%. And because the process can be tailored in-house, Enpact can engineer performance characteristics—like hydrophobicity or flame retardance—on demand. The market is listening. Moroccan agribusinesses and European exporters are showing interest, especially as EU carbon border tariffs (like CBAM) loom in 2026. With the global sustainable packaging market size estimated at USD 272.93 billion in 2023 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2024 to 2030, Enpact, with ISO 14040-compliant lifecycle assessments already in place, is well positioned to claim a share.
Ecosystem of applied science
Behind Enpact is UM6P’s science-driven entrepreneurship approach. Early support came through the university’s Explorer program, providing $25,000 in seed funding and critical mentorship. “They pushed us to produce 1,000 agendas for The Explorer Showcase Event at UM6P,” recalls Semlali. “It forced us to think beyond the lab and engineer a product that could meet real-world demands.”
Subsequent rounds of support came through The Bench Program, which infused Enpact with $40,000 in seed funding, with the support of TTO and the Entrepreneurship and Venturing Department of UM6P.
These programs—co-developed with industrial and venture partners—go beyond grants. They embed startups in a web of mentorship, production infrastructure, and rapid-feedback loops. UM6P even offered technical staff, pilot labs, and access to real client feedback.
Institutional support made a difference. At UM6P, the line between research and entrepreneurship is deliberately porous. Ventures have emerged from its labs in the last three years, many focused on materials, climate tech, and agricultural innovation.
Charting the next phase
Looking ahead, Enpact aims to consolidate its presence locally—starting with supplying UM6P itself—then expand regionally. Within two years, the team expects to finalize contracts with agribusinesses and EU-based clients. Product development continues, with UV-resistant coatings, flame-retardant surfaces, and bio-composites in the pipeline. In parallel, Enpact is mapping regional expansion. West Africa is a natural next step. Nigeria, for instance, discards 32 million tonnes of waste annually and imports a major part of its packaging. “Our process is adaptable,”
Semlali says. “Anywhere with agricultural by-products and a packaging gap is a viable target.”
True to her research roots, Semlali doesn’t plan to serve as Enpact’s CEO long-term. “I see myself more as a Chief Technology Officer,” she says. “My passion is building technologies that connect science to society—and moving on to the next one.”
Enpact is more than a case of waste valorization. It reflects a broader challenge: how to align industrial development with ecological stewardship and national self-reliance.
Morocco has the raw material reserves, the scientific talent, and now, a tested model for transformation.
As Semlali puts it, “I don’t believe in developing solutions that stay confined to the lab. Science should meet the market—and meet it on our terms.”
In a world increasingly defined by circular economies and climate mandates, Enpact is showing that innovation doesn’t have to come from afar. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of looking differently at what’s already here.
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