Register Now

EUBCE 2024 - Lara CAMPOS - From Cork By-Products to Bio-Based Alternatives for Application in Textiles

From Cork By-Products to Bio-Based Alternatives for Application in Textiles

 Print

Processes for bio-based chemicals and materials 3

From Cork By-Products to Bio-Based Alternatives for Application in Textiles

Short Introductive summary

The increasing demand for industrial chemicals raises concerns about environmental pollution and resource depletion. Transitioning towards bio-based and biodegradable alternatives offers a promising solution. Fortunately, large amounts of industrial by-products, which can be hazardous to the environment if not properly managed, represent a potential source of valuable biomass for further processing and recovering or production of high-added value compounds. From the cork processing industry, tons of by-products are generated (~25% of the cork production), including cork powder (40,000 tons/year), black condensate (2,500 tons/year) and cork-boiling wastewaters (400 L/ton of prepared cork). Cork powder is mainly composed of suberin, lignin, polysaccharides, and extractives; while the black condensate possesses high content of phenolics with antioxidant activity, and corkboiling wastewaters have high concentrations of organic and phenolic compounds and sugars. These characteristics suggest that these by-products still contain valuable compounds that can potentially be recovered and utilized as bio-based alternatives to industrial chemicals.

Presenter

Lara CAMPOS

Technical University of Denmark, DTU Bioengineering Dpt., DENMARK

Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited


Co-authors:

L. Campos, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, DENMARK
M. Henriques, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra, PORTUGAL
A. Veloso, University of Minho, Braga, PORTUGAL
C. Silva, CITEVE, Vila Nova de Famalicão, PORTUGAL
S. Mussatto, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, DENMARK

Session reference: 6CV.7.23