Thermoplastic lignin production - Creating a green industry to replace fossil-based plastics

Introduction

The TLP-project will be executed by RenCom AB, a Swedish biotechnology SME established in 2018. The project consists of the construction of a biorefinery producing a renewable and biodegradable biomaterial RENOL that is used in biocomposites for producing packaging films, such as wrapping plastics and plastic bags. The plant will produce 10,000 t/a of RENOL intended to replace fossil-based plastics, such as polyethylene (PE, reference product).

Feedstock Supply

The feedstock is kraft lignin, a highly under-valorised by-product of the kraft pulping industry. Currently, RenCom purchases lignin at 1,000-2,000 tonnes per year. An increased supply for the production plant has been ensured by letters of intent from two raw material suppliers in Europe, who operate with high sustainability concern and have Forest Stewardship Council-certified products. The feedstock agreement is expected to be signed by the end of 2021.

Market Demand

The demand for the principal product RENOL is secured by Letters of Intent from five compounders and converters. The first commercial off-take agreements are expected to be signed by June 2021 with compounders making wrapping films. RENOL is patent-protected in the key markets in Europe, the US, Brazil, and China.

Project Implementation

The investment project will be implemented based on the carefully selected and tested process technologies. The process technologies have been validated in RenCom's demo site in Knivsta, Sweden, with a capacity of 2,000 t/a.

Timeline

According to the implementation plan:

1. The project will reach Financial Close in 2/2022.
2. Construction will start in 8/2022.
3. The plant will start production tentatively in 11/2023.

Environmental Impact

The investment project will help the EU achieve energy and climate goals, with 470,108 tCO2 absolute GHG avoidance expected in the first 10 years of operations. It will also accumulate first-class technology know-how that can be scaled to create new business opportunities for both the plastics industry and the pulp and paper industry.