4.15

Forest Residues Used in Making Bioplastics: Developing Sustainable Alternatives

In this step we’ll highlight how by-products from the forest and agricultural industries can be modified and blended into existing plastics, reducing the need for fossil-based plastics.

Lignin is the rigid, large natural molecule that makes up the structure of all plants. To make it usable, it must be chemically modified – or plasticized – allowing it to be melted. This processed lignin is then blended into common plastics, such as PP or PE, serving as a bio-based component that significantly reduces reliance on fossil fuels. Up to 40 percent of fossil-based polymers can be replaced, with a reduction of CO2 emissions projected at 79 percent.

In the video below Christopher Carrick, founder of Lignin Industries, presents Renol, a chemically modified lignin used as a drop-in bio-based material to replace fossil-based plastics.

For those of you that want a more in-depth, research overview, you have a presentation by Professor Wout Boerjan here, and Professor John Ralph here.

Further reading, learning and references

Lignin Industries https://www.lignin.se/

MWP Symposium – Improving Wood Quality: From Systems Biology in Arabidopsis to Applications in Trees – Professor Wout Boerjan https://uppsala.instructuremedia.com/embed/148f2fe7-8998-484a-a2ae-823b597f36d0

MWP Symposium – Organic Syntheses and Advanced Analytics for Understanding Lignin Biosynthesis, Structure, and Processing – Professor John Ralph https://uppsala.instructuremedia.com/embed/7228e006-54c4-4776-b330-f2e03f1f0397

© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University and Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote