The Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS) from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) hosted on 19-21 February, the first technical meeting of the SUSBIND European Project on “Development and pilot production of SUStainable bio-BINDer systems for wood based panels”, which started on 1 May 2018. This is a H2020 Research & Innovation Action funded with € 4.1 million by the “Bio-Based Industries” Joint Undertaking (www.bbi-europe.eu).
The goal of the project is to substitute fossil-based chemicals with those from renewable resources. Surplus feedstock sourced from existing European biorefineries will be used for the production of binders and intermediates. SUSBIND aims at producing and validating these bio-based binders with leading wood board manufacturers for two product types: P2 particle board and medium density fibreboard. The SUSBIND consortium will develop, produce and test bio-based binders as an alternative to formaldehyde binders currently used for wood-based panel boards in furniture mass products. The SUSBIND project will also cover the full value chain from feedstocks through to pilot production and validation by relevant research, industry and SME partners.
The feasibility of this ambitious project is based on a strong European consortium from Austria, Netherland, Spain, Germany, Sweden and Portugal formed by world-leading companies of the sectors of consultancy organisation (CE Delft and RTDS), wood manufacture (EGGER, Wood K plus and Valbopan), engineering and biotechnology (Fraunhofer IGB), food and agricultural (Cargill), producer of wooden furniture (IKEA), enzymes producers (JenaBios) and several research institutes (CIB, IRNAS from CSIC and TU Dresden).
The IRNAS contribution to the work plan is led by Dr. Ana Gutiérrez from the “Lignocellulosic Materials of Industrial Interest” group who will be in charge of the chemical analyses of vegetable oils by GC-MS as well as of the research on enzymatic epoxidation reactions (at lab scale) of unsaturated fatty acids by several unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) to obtain fatty epoxides to be used for the development of oil biobased adhesives for both particle and fiber boards.
More information:
Website: www.susbind.eu
Twitter: @susbind