High quality cellulose recovery from AHP: From used diaper to coatings additive

Project Information

Cellulose recovery

Grant agreement ID: 727202

DOI

10.3030/727202

Project closed

EC signature date 23 May 2016

Start date 1 May 2016

End date 31 October 2016

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

PSICON B.V.
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Cellulose recovery (High quality cellulose recovery from AHP: From used diaper to coatings additive)

Reporting period: 2016-05-01 to 2016-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

High grade cellulose recovery from AHP cellulosic waste

The issue being addressed in this project is the fact that large cellulosic waste streams from AHP waste are currently being incinerated or used for landfill in most cases and converted to low added value materials in a minor number of cases.
Psicon is able to recover and produce high grade alpha cellulose from AHP waste streams providing added value and contribute to a true circular economy.

Society will benefit in several aspects. The waste streams that require incineration will be reduced resulting in less CO2 production. Because we use a waste stream for production of high grade cellulose less hardwood and trees need to be used to produce high grade cellulose, reducing CO2 even further.

The overall objective is to design, enable and (partly) operate production facilities to enforce sufficient economy of scale and to contribute to a sustainable circular economy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project for this phase (SME1) consisted of several aspects.

1: A further assessment of the technical feasibility of the production installation has been executed. This resulted in a better understanding and a better accuracy of the technical requirements for the production installation and the underlying process. In this phase and as part of the technical feasibility also major equipment has been re-evaluated. This enabled also further accuracy of the equipment pricing and the budgetting process as a whole.

As a result of the findings Psicon was able to develop a technical roadmap which is included in the detailed report.

2: Psicon has investigated the legal framework/legislation/permitting for their operations. For this effort several countries has been selected and several companies have been contacted. Psicon is well equiped as they are building installations for the Oil and Gas and chemical industry for many years. In the detailed (confidential) report the selection of the countries/regions has been accounted for.

The outcome is that there are many requirements and permits that need to be obtained prior to construction and operation. Some of these like the PED are identical/similar accros Europe. The PED is an European directive. Others like building permits depend strongly on country and often also on the exact location.

3: Psicon has also investigated the logistics and regulations of the feedstock. Although Psicon does not expect that the collection of this feedstock will be executed by Psicon itself the challenges are clear. Valuable information is obtained from the waste collection and recycling company, which is currently already collecting AHP waste separately, but also other routes have been investigated.

As a result we expect no crucial challenges in the collection of the AHP waste. The initiation of new routes is time consuming, but for a first production facility the feedstock is already collected and currently being incinerated. During the time a second production facility is build new routes can be developed. It is expected that feedstock supply can grow more rapidly than production facilities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The production facility of high grade cellulose is, and should be, viable and sustainable on its own.

Where the production of high grade cellulose diffentiates itself is that it can be made out of waste that is currently incinerated or used as landfill.

As a result the process can assist in:

- Reducing CO2;
- Making wastestreams valuable;
- Contribute to a circular economy;
- Reducing the need for raw materials.

With the innovative process of Psicon waste stream will become a sustainable source for high grade cellulose, without the need for a contunious stream of subsidies for the operations.

render of CAD designed production facility