Dossier

Lignin, green feedstock for chemicals and materials

Lignin is a natural adhesive that provides strength and flexibility for trees, grasses, and straw. The average tree consists of 25% lignin. The Netherlands boasts considerable volumes of biomass side streams resulting from paper and cardboard production. Currently, these are used for the low-value purpose of generating energy. This will soon change, as lignin is becoming a serious bio-feedstock for the chemical industry and is used in the production of resins, foams and coatings.

Promising purposes

Lignin also shows promise in bio-asphalt as a partial substitute for bitumen. Moreover, it can be used as a substitute for the toxic adhesive phenol in high-value construction materials.

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Research

Bio-asphalt from lignin

Wageningen University & Research collaborates with partners in the asphalt production chain within several projects to test different compositions of asphalt in practical situations.

Projects

One of the advantages of lignin asphalt, as opposed to bitumen, is that it significantly reduces CO2 emissions, as well as capture greenhouse gases for a long time.

Testing strips

There are 25 testing strips located throughout the Netherlands where the asphalt is tested, and sufficient data can be collected to support large-scale market introduction.

Aanleg bioasfalt