Local supply of lignocellulosic biomass to paper industry in Gelderland : Development of circular and value-added chains
[report]
Iris Vural Gursel, FBR BP Biorefinery & Sustainable Value Chains, Johan van Groenestijn, Wolter Elbersen, Mart-Jan Schelhaas, Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Remco Kranendonk, Anjo de Jong, Myrna van Leeuwen, Marie-Jose Smits, Alterra - Vegetation, forest and landscape ecology, PE&RC
(+3 others)
2020
unpublished
This report explores new opportunities and value added activities for circular and bio-based economy at local scale. It brings insight into the potential of valorising local lignocellulosic biomass in the province of Gelderland at one selected industry: paper and board. The use of fibres from locally available or cultivated biomass can make a crucial contribution to the future mix of raw materials for the paper and board industry. It allows reducing dependence on imported pulp made from virgin
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... ibre from wood, keep the carbon stored in a product and by possibility of recycling several times it can stay longer in the cycle. This is supportive of reaching targets to combat climate change and contributes to circular economy. The report provides information about the availability of lignocellulosic biomass in the region, the current status of the paper industry in Gelderland, new initiatives for lignocellulosic biomass growing and processing and enabling and restricting factors. The different type of players are mapped that can enable new value-chains to be formed with local lignocellulosic biomass in the paper and board industry. An overview of the policies at European, national and provincial level is provided, which show that the frameworks are there, and the challenge now is to bring the missions into practice, to realize the bio-economy, create new perspectives for regional economies in balance with the planetary boundaries. A stepwise case study methodology is applied at the example of eggbox made from grass fibres to investigate the different aspects of the business case: technology, environment, economy, society and circularity. For cardboard the key is low prices. Yet, imported wood pulp as feedstock is relatively cheap due to economies of scale. The locally produced combined with higher sustainability is attractive for certain customers and they are willing to pay a premium. The market increasingly demands sustainable packaging. The technology for refining the grass into fibre is well established, however the process can be further improved by better valorising the side stream into biogas, which will provide more than enough to meet its own energy demand. The cardboard produced using grass fibres offers the same protection properties and can be recycled with the old paper for reuse. The use of local feedstock will support regional bioeconomy development and is also good to achieve security of supply with the volatility in price and availability of recycled paper in recent years. Grass has a short growth cycle and large amounts arise from waterways management, so valorising them for materials allow high resource use efficiency. It will also allow reducing demand on forests. In terms of circularity, the utility of grass fibres is maximised in material application rather than breaking it down with composting. With the possibility of recycling with old paper the value of the resources is preserved. The analysis shows that although there is room for improvement, the business case is attractive. There are new initiatives exploring these innovative value chains. Due to the strong paper industry of Gelderland, there is potential that the national lignocellulosic resources can be valorised here as a lignocellulose hub. This calls for strengthened communication and collaboration between many partners (feedstock suppliers, technology providers, knowledge an testing institutes/centres, paper industry, cluster organisations and municipalities) to develop local value chains and to increase the number and volume of the applications.
doi:10.18174/522235
fatcat:w5gsmdhxd5etzazb4j7cbdi5hq
