Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NewWave (Building a sustainable & circular economy through innovative, biobased manufacturing lines)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-03-31
NewWave will contribute to building a circular economy by introducing sustainable raw materials in four different manufacturing lines (ML), replacing toxic chemicals, and lowering the environmental footprint of the products. The innovative approach of NewWave is to apply thermo-chemical fractionation (TCF) to unlock and fractionate residual biomass. TCF combines fast pyrolysis of the biomass with subsequent fast pyrolysis oil separation, keeping the key chemical functionalities in separate, depolymerized fractions. The fractions are used in the manufacturing lines producing engineered wood panels, furan base-chemicals, polyols and polyurethanes, and modified/engineered wood. These lines are not chosen ‘at random’, rather they evolved from previous research and technology development work and will reach TRL-6 by the end of the project. The products produced in the manufacturing lines will be used to enhance the sustainability of building materials in the construction industry. NewWave aims at wood-based materials including Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) to replace steel and concrete as structural components, modified/engineered wood to replace tropical hardwood or chemically treated wood for outdoor use, and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and plywood for interior usage. Toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and creosote will be replaced by non-toxic, bio-based alternatives. Within the project, a small demonstration project will be built with these materials to show the products and test their durability. NewWave will see a unique blend of European companies and institutes, it consists of seven innovative SME’s, two academic partners and two large industrial companies representing the four different but interlinked manufacturing lines. The project is led by BTG Biomass Technology Group BV from the Netherlands. The project, which started in April 2022 will run for four years, and is funded under the EU framework programme Horizon Europe.
The project is well on track, there are no deviations. All fractions and samples were delivered (WP2), first circularity tests concerning waste-water treatment have been conducted and are promising. ML1: Lignin resin testing is ongoing and on track. ML2: Development of the conversion of Sugars to HMF is ongoing and on track as is the further development of processes to produce furan derivatives. ML3: Polyol and PUR production testing is ongoing and well on track. ML4: Many different formulations for wood modification were prepared and tested, durability tests are ongoing. LCA & LCC studies are ongoing and well on track. All deliverables have been submitted and all Milestones were reached.