EUBCE 2026 - Laura KUPIAINEN - The Potential of Birch Wood and Plywood Waste as a Feedstock for Production of Organosolv Lignin

The Potential of Birch Wood and Plywood Waste as a Feedstock for Production of Organosolv Lignin

Short Introductive summary

This study shows that plywood waste is a suitable material for production of lignin and bioethanol with organosolv-based formico® technology. Lignin can be used as a form of Lignin-Phenol-Formaldehyde resin in production of new plywood. Thus, this novel process concept enables the recycling of plywood waste as well as production of high-value products. The potential of the concept is evaluated by assessing the performance of the organosolv fractionation step against birch raw material and analyzing the quality of pulp and lignin from both raw materials, birch and plywood waste. Results show that small differences found between fractionation of birch and plywood waste is not a hindrance to using waste as raw material. Instead, good lignin and bioethanol yields were obtained from both materials. Extensive lignin characterization revealed that analytical pyrolysis for qualitative lignin analysis is beneficial over conventional methods due to pseudolignin. No significant difference in quality was found between lignins from birch and plywood residues, indicating the potential for further applications.

L. Kupiainen, Chempolis Ltd, Oulu, FINLAND
M. Lauberts, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
J. Rizikovs, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
M. Pals, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA