Descrizione del progetto
Far crescere le catene del valore associate agli scarti del legno
L’economia circolare nel settore dei carburanti e delle sostanze chimiche biocompatibili è fondamentale per mitigare gli effetti esercitati dai cambiamenti climatici e dal degrado ambientale. Ogni anno la silvicoltura e l’agricoltura generano a livello globale all’incirca un miliardo di tonnellate di rifiuti di biomassa. Data l’inefficienza e il costo delle tecnologie per il relativo trattamento, solo metà dei 70 milioni di tonnellate di scarti del legno prodotti in Europa viene riciclata. Il progetto BioFlex, finanziato dall’UE, propone una tecnologia innovativa che dissolve il legno di scarto allo scopo di ottenere materie prime che possano essere ulteriormente utilizzate. Dai rifiuti legnosi indesiderati, tale tecnica consente di ottenere materie prime per produrre bioplastica di elevata qualità, sostanze chimiche comuni e nuovi materiali. Questa soluzione ridurrà l’inquinamento atmosferico e del suolo migliorando al contempo la qualità dell’aria e sostenendo gli obiettivi di riduzione dei rifiuti fissati a livello governativo e industriale.
Obiettivo
We have developed the BioFlex solvent process that uses unwanted waste wood as a very cheap raw-material to produce clean and high-quality inputs for the production of renewable chemicals, fuels and materials. An inexpensive process separates the main components of wood: cellulose and lignin. These can then be turned into final products such as bio-plastics, common chemicals and novel materials.
There are a variety of new value chains that are potentially created through our technology. For example, using the waste wood from a local council, cellulose can be isolated, which is hydrolysed, fermented to succinic acid and then used in paint. The lignin isolated alongside the cellulose can be turned into a drop-in biodiesel sold at the local petrol station. Similarly, sawdust from a timber mill can be fractionated, the cellulose used to produce methylcellulose as a thickener in food, the lignin turned into a bio-derived plastic.
We are diverting wood waste from going to landfill or incineration and sawdust going into pellets. The European pellets market is saturated, also with pellets imported from the Americas. The lignin and cellulose produced from these currently underused wood resources can enter new, emerging, or existing value chains.
Our competition on the waste wood disposal side is incineration, offering energy recovery in some cases but resulting in the formation of toxic ash and contributing to air pollution. For some heavily treated waste wood there are no competitors except for costly and highly undesirable landfilling which are largely viewed as problematic by both waste producers and waste managers.
The market is estimated to be EUR 40.9 billion for BioFlex products and EUR 13.4 billion of waste wood recycling. We have established a clear timeline for commercialization and signed a number of agreements with partners to make this plan feasible. We have an interdisciplinary and dedicated team to make Bioflex and its products available on the market.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbioplastics
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesforestry
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinatore
EC4N 8AF London
Regno Unito
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.