Vertoro-led consortium conducts research based on lignin polyurethane and phenol

" The project is focused on further developing the interregional campus ecosystem and, together with critical infrastructure, the conversion of biomass residues into crude lignin oil (CLO) and CLO-derived polyurethanes and pheno.

A Dutch consortium led by biotech company Vertoro has been awarded €2 million to study the potential of crude lignin oil as a platform for sustainable chemicals and materia.

The €9 million project titled 'Doing more with lignin' was officially launched on 1 October 2019 and is being funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the provinces of Limburg and Brabant The province co-funds the Netherlands (OPZuid) in the context of the Southern Action Pl.

In a statement, Vertoro said the switch from fossil feedstocks to renewable feedstocks was necessary to reduce the carbon footprint of the Dutch chemical indust.

According to Vertoro, the project hopes to build a complete value chain based on the pilot of lignin-based materials (polyurethane) and chemicals (phenol) to contribute to this go.

The 'Doing more with lignin' project will utilize three existing infrastructures in the south of the Netherlands for bio-based chemistry research, including Brightlands Chemelot campus Geleen, Brightlands campus Greenport Venlo and Green Chemistry campus Bergen op Zo.

The consortium hosts scientists and businesses across campuses and borde.

Start-up Vertoro and the Chemelot Institute of Science and Technology (InSciTe) will then convert the powder into crude lignin oil (CLO) and CLO-derived phenol at the new InSciTe facility, located at the Brightlands multipurpose experimental site in Gele.

The Flemish academy VITO and the start-up company Indresmat used CLO in this project to produce polyurethane coatings and building materia.

The consortium is led by Verto.