Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NORDIC BIO-RUBBER (Sustainable rubber for the environment.)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-02-01 do 2025-07-31
Today, globally, about 15 million tons of rubber are produced per year from fossil resources like crude oil or natural gas. This created a strong dependence to maintain a steady supply of fossil resources and is also associated with large carbon dioxide emissions.
In order to phase out fossil resources and establish a truly sustainable bioeconomy, new biomass-based processes and novel biomaterials need to be developed. Previously, we have used a biorefinery approach to isolate different fractions from birch bark. Notably, from the one of the isolated fractions, we created a novel bio-elastomer called Reselo Rubber. The aim of this project is to (i) prepare the technical industrialization of our birch bark biorefinery process and (ii) build the basis for the market launch of our Reselo Rubber.
Importantly, our business holds global potential since renewable rubber materials are needed across many industries. Further, our feedstock, birch bark, is already today available at industrial scale since it is a residue of the global pulp, paper, and plywood industry, with over 600,000 tons being generated per year in Scandinavia alone.
In order to phase out fossil resources and establish a truly sustainable bioeconomy, new biomass-based processes and novel biomaterials need to be developed. Previously, we have used a biorefinery approach to isolate different fractions from birch bark. Notably, from the one of the isolated fractions, we created a novel bio-elastomer called Reselo Rubber. The aim of this project is to (i) prepare the technical industrialization of our birch bark biorefinery process and (ii) build the basis for the market launch of our Reselo Rubber.
Importantly, our business holds global potential since renewable rubber materials are needed across many industries. Further, our feedstock, birch bark, is already today available at industrial scale since it is a residue of the global pulp, paper, and plywood industry, with over 600,000 tons being generated per year in Scandinavia alone.
Over the course of this project we have developed our birch bark biorefinery process from an incomplete process concept at the beginning of this project to a technically scalable and efficient process. Notably, we decided to work directly with industrial equipment suppliers instead of building our own pilot plant.
As industrial bark contains large amounts of wood, we first developed a birch bark pre-treatment process to enrich the outer bark from such samples as well as prepare the feedstock for the chemical section of our refinery process.
Then, we optimised the chemical process steps in which we isolate suberin for the production of Reselo Rubber as well as other valuabe components. We identified favourable extraction and solvent recovery technologies and verified their feasibility for our process. Further, we validated our birch bark biorefinery process through two pilots performed by two independent partners. Finally, based on these results, we started to design our first commercial plant and identified a favourable location for it. As result of these efforts, we have now demonstrated the technical feasibility and scalability of our optimised birch bark biorefinery process, thus de-risking the future commercialisation of Reselo Rubber.
In addition, we also evaluated the carbon footprint of our Reselo Rubber once produced at scale and found that about 90% of CO2 emissions can be saved when replacing synthetic rubbers with our renewable alternative.
As industrial bark contains large amounts of wood, we first developed a birch bark pre-treatment process to enrich the outer bark from such samples as well as prepare the feedstock for the chemical section of our refinery process.
Then, we optimised the chemical process steps in which we isolate suberin for the production of Reselo Rubber as well as other valuabe components. We identified favourable extraction and solvent recovery technologies and verified their feasibility for our process. Further, we validated our birch bark biorefinery process through two pilots performed by two independent partners. Finally, based on these results, we started to design our first commercial plant and identified a favourable location for it. As result of these efforts, we have now demonstrated the technical feasibility and scalability of our optimised birch bark biorefinery process, thus de-risking the future commercialisation of Reselo Rubber.
In addition, we also evaluated the carbon footprint of our Reselo Rubber once produced at scale and found that about 90% of CO2 emissions can be saved when replacing synthetic rubbers with our renewable alternative.
During our development activites we build a robust, more sustainable and commercially attractive process, which de-risks the further scale-up of our technology. However, significant investment will be required to establish our first plant and this remains a challenge especially under curent market conditions.
On the other hand, we have made great progress to implement our material into several applications like footwear, tires and automotive goods by closely collaborating with customers and partners. Now, we are working towards commercialising the technically validated products, but material supply at an acceptable cost for our customers is a major bottleneck. To by-pass this issue we are now establishing a supply chain based on contract manufacturing. However, when approaching ton-scale production for European supply, we will need to comply with the REACH regulation for new chemicals and materials, adding cost and delaying our time-to-market. As this is a considerable burden for early-stage companies, a public funded office to support REACH applications for start-ups would be greatly beneficial and accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies in the EU.
Finally, the market implementation of our Reselo Rubber is also limited by a rather undefined EU strategy of how and when fossil-based materials are supposed to be phased out. Therefore, clear and impactful legislative incentives to implement renewable materials would greatly support our efforts.
Finally, we currently valorise only one of three fractions isolated from birch bark through our biorefinery process. While the remaining fractions can serve as energy source, further research and development are needed to find non-energy applications for these compounds. Importantly, first efforts are already described in the literature to valorise also these isolated compounds with some applications are being commercialised in low volume markets.
On the other hand, we have made great progress to implement our material into several applications like footwear, tires and automotive goods by closely collaborating with customers and partners. Now, we are working towards commercialising the technically validated products, but material supply at an acceptable cost for our customers is a major bottleneck. To by-pass this issue we are now establishing a supply chain based on contract manufacturing. However, when approaching ton-scale production for European supply, we will need to comply with the REACH regulation for new chemicals and materials, adding cost and delaying our time-to-market. As this is a considerable burden for early-stage companies, a public funded office to support REACH applications for start-ups would be greatly beneficial and accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies in the EU.
Finally, the market implementation of our Reselo Rubber is also limited by a rather undefined EU strategy of how and when fossil-based materials are supposed to be phased out. Therefore, clear and impactful legislative incentives to implement renewable materials would greatly support our efforts.
Finally, we currently valorise only one of three fractions isolated from birch bark through our biorefinery process. While the remaining fractions can serve as energy source, further research and development are needed to find non-energy applications for these compounds. Importantly, first efforts are already described in the literature to valorise also these isolated compounds with some applications are being commercialised in low volume markets.