MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 07+08/23 www.petpla.net 11 MATERIALS / RECYCLING 11 ing the possibility of expanding production in Rotterdam. For bio-glycol production, the business unit uses beechwood from sustainable forest management and side streams from sawmilling operations. All of the wood will be FSC- or PEFC-certified. However, the company is also involved in the planting, growing, harvesting and collecting of beech wood itself and claims not to compete with land for food production or to use any fertilisers - two of the biggest criticisms of some other organic raw materials such as sugar cane. UPM also uses wood from routine thinnings which are required for sustainable forest management. It is important to note that currently more than 60% of the beech wood harvested in Germany are burnt for energy generation. In the processing stage, the cellulose is then turned into bio-glycols, lignin into functional fillers (used mainly in the automotive and rubber industry) and hemicellulose into industrial sugar. “Unlike oil or natural gas, the use of renewable carbon from wood to make biobased products - along with carbon from direct CO2 use and carbon from recycling existing materials - will play an important role in achieving a net-zero future,” Dr Duetsch is convinced. “In a world where 96% of products, including plastic packaging, rely on chemical intermediates, the chemical industry is a key enabler and urgently needs to find alternatives to fossil feedstocks to help address the climate crisis.” Biorefinery (almost) ready for take-off The project, which does not yet exist in this form anywhere else, is scheduled to start at the end of 2023. More than 100 jobs have been created in the 16-hectare biorefinery and a total of 220,000 t of bioMEG and lignin-based Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF) sold under the brand UPM BioMotion. Use segments include textiles, packaging including PET, coolants, refrigerants, composites, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and detergents. “We will only use locally sourced and certified beech wood as raw material,” explained Dr Duetsch. “This sustainable source will be used to produce a new generation of renewable bio-based ‘drop-in’ glycols.” Instead of burning the harvested beech wood for energy production, using it in more durable and recyclable products would make much more efficient use of the (MKMXEP VEXMSREP TVSƤXEFPI ;LEX IPWI# SACMI.COM 300 4VIJSVQ MRWTIGXMSR ERH TVSGIWW IRLERGIQIRX MRGPYHIH DIGITAL (MKMXEP TVSGIWW GSRXVSP VIEGLIW TVIZMSYWP] YRXLMROEFPI PIZIPW STIRMRK YT XLI MRHYWXV] XS -S8 WGIREVMSW RATIONAL 7%'1- 4VIJSVQ :MWMSR 7]WXIQ MRGPYHIH JSV EHZERGIH GSQTVILIRWMZI TVSGIWW GSRXVSP PROFITABLE '330 TSWX GSSPMRK MRWMHI GSSPMRK W]WXIQ WLSVXIRW G]GPI XMQIW ERH PIEHW XS QSVI TVSƤXEFPI TVSHYGXMSR momic
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