EU backs project to turn paper-industry waste into additives

Brussels – New sustainable rubber chemicals derived from waste produced by the pulp & paper industry are among the targets of a project that has just received €2.8 million in EU funding  

The ZEBRA-LIFE project is based on a thermo-oxidative depolymerisation process, developed by CENER, to extract high-value-added bio-aromatic compounds from lignin.

End-products can be used to substitute the existing fossil fuel-based additives including for applications in rubber, fuels, lubricants, food industry, and cosmetics.

Europe’s pulp and paper industry annually produces around 11 million tonnes of waste tonnes, much of which is a toxic black liquor that is mainly burned for energy recovery or sent for disposal, explained a European Commission statement.

The ZEBRA-LIFE project, it said addresses issues around the generation of waste by the pulp & paper industry as well as impacts involved in the production and use of synthetic additives.

The ‘lignin depolymerizations and downstream formulisation’ technologies developed for the ‘new circular value chain’ could enable paper mills “to valorise their black liquor by-product in the form of a natural antioxidant and UV filter product.”

Involved in the ZEBRA-LIFE project are: Repsol SA, (participant); Roka Furadada SL, (participant); Bioquochem SL (participant); Fundacion CENER, (coordinator); Centro Tecnologico Riojano    (participant); Asociacion De Investigacion De Industrias Carnicas Del Principado De Asturias, (participant); Smurfit Kappa Navarra SA, (participant); Cartago Ventures SL, (participant).