Develop surface or bulk treatments for improved wood-based materials

Develop novel surface or bulk treatment methods for wood-based materials while improving reusability or recyclability at their end of life and test their applications in selected market segments.

The sustainable sourcing and conversion of starting wood material need to be ensured. Treatments can address the surface or the bulk volume of the wood-based material and can include physical, chemical, thermal and enzymatic processes or a combination thereof to achieve the desired quality of the surface and the functionalities of the material as a whole.

The overall resource efficiency of the process and products should also be increased by extending the durability of the targeted wood-based materials to foster the contribution of the harvested wood products to the carbon sink.

End-of-life phase should be addressed, with preference for reusing or recycling the material after its service life has ended. Otherwise, the biodegradability of the material should be assessed by applying the criteria given in the introduction.

Proposals should address all requirements for RIA as shown in Table 3 of the Annual Work plan 2019.

The technology readiness level (TRL) at the end of the project should be 4-5 for the bio-based value chain in question. roposals should clearly state the starting and end TRLs of the key technology or technologies targeted in the project.

Industry participation in the project would be considered as an added value because it can play a supportive role to demonstrate the potential for integrating the developed concepts and technologies into current industrial landscapes or existing plants so they can be deployed more quickly and scaled up to apply industry-wide.

INDICATIVE FUNDING:

It is considered that proposals requesting a contribution of between EUR 2 million and EUR 5 million would be able to address this specific challenge appropriately. However, this does not preclude the submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Wood-based materials find wide application in many market segments based on their macro-, micro- and nano-scale structures. Surface treatments, meaning altering the properties of the wood matrix at its skin or adding layers to it, are increasingly used to improve and expand the applicability of these materials. Equally important are treatments working on the whole volume of the material to improve bulk properties such as mechanical or thermal properties. The range of techniques used is huge.

Demand for treated wood-based material is increasing, stimulated by a widening of applications in practice. At the same time, market requirements are pushing towards improved performance, ecodesign principles and reusability/recyclability at end-of-life phase.

The specific challenge is to develop new treatment methods for wood-based materials that improve the technological performance of the end product as well as the environmental impact at its end of life.

EXPECTED IMPACTS LINKED TO BBI JU KPIS:

▪ contribute to KPI 1 – create at least one new cross-sector interconnection in the bio-based economy;

▪ contribute to KPI 2 – set the basis for at least one new bio-based value chain;

▪ contribute to KPI 5 – validate at least two ‘new’ bio-based materials;

▪ contribute to KPI 8 – validate at least one new and improved processing technology reflecting the ‘TRL gain’ since the start of the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:

▪ increase the overall resource efficiency;

▪ increase the contribution of the harvested wood products to the carbon storage by extending the durability of the treated woody biomass-based materials by at least 25% beyond the state of the art;

▪ reduce the amount of wood-based materials routed to landfill or incineration at end-of-life stage;

▪ replace fossil-based solutions in selected applications with wood-based solutions with a subsequent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS:

▪ increase income and business opportunities for stakeholders and actors (including primary producers) in the bio-based sectors, in particular in the sectors where the developed new materials will be used.

SOCIAL IMPACTS:

▪ improve reusing and/or recycling solutions in targeted consumer products;

▪ create new job opportunities in the bio-based sector, particularly in the forest-based sector.

TYPE OF ACTION: Research and innovation action.