HIGH PERFORMING AND SAFE SOLVENT DERIVED FROM CELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCKS

Project Information

ReSolute

Grant agreement ID: 887674

DOI

10.3030/887674

Project terminated on 4 March 2025

EC signature date 21 September 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 June 2025

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 23 882 535,56

EU contribution

€ 11 628 401,05

Coordinated by

BIOECONOMY FOR CHANGE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ReSolute (HIGH PERFORMING AND SAFE SOLVENT DERIVED FROM CELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCKS)

Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The ReSolute project’s overall objective is to create a first-of-its-kind industrial plant and downstream value-chains for the adoption of Cyrene™ – a low-toxic solvent made from certified, renewable, cellulosic biomass – which is a high performing alternative to harmful petroleum solvents currently used, such as NMP (N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone), DMF (Dimethylformamide) and DMAc (Dimethylacetamide). The ReSolute plant is sited in France’s Grand-Est Region and will scale-up the Cyrene™ production process to manufacture 1,000 tonnes of Cyrene™ per year.

The EU’s Green Deal, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and net-zero ambitions alongside the development of ‘safe and sustainable by design’ criteria by ECHA foreshadow the elimination of traditional harmful solvents once viable alternatives are developed at large scale. The bio-based solvent Cyrene offers a safer sustainable replacement. Additionally, Cyrene manufacture and end-use will notably reduce CO2 emissions, support water/environmental conservation and accelerate the circular bioeconomy. Project ReSolute enables the development of new downstream bio-based chemical value-chains and will ultimately contribute to a range of impacts including:
• Development of a circular, sustainable EU bioeconomy
• Fostering climate justice by creating new bioeconomy jobs for employees displaced by the transition to low carbon technologies
• Enabling the chemicals industry to transition away from fossil fuel raw materials and thereby contribute notably to EU carbon reduction targets
• Providing industrial solvent end-users with a safer, sustainable alternative so that safety, waste, water and carbon performance measures can be improved in line with their supply chain sustainability strategies
• Supporting EU bioeconomy communications, dissemination and engagement across stakeholders, including policymakers, government, industry and the wider public
The overall objectives of ReSolute are to:
• Build and successfully operate a first-of-its-kind Flagship Plant producing the bio-based building block LGO and Cyrene
• Demonstrate at large scale a first-of-its-kind bio-based value chain to produce a safe and high performing solvent from wood biomass
• Ensure the continuous supply of feedstock
• Cover the whole value chain from feedstock supply to the production of high added-value downstream products using Cyrene
• Operate the plant as an integrated biorefinery converting biomass into a variety of products and generating no waste
• Satisfy market demand for bio-based alternatives
• Ensure the sustainability of the Flagship Plant and its products

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ReSolute brings together 11 key actors: Circa, Merck KGaA, Will & Co BV, Talga Advanced Materials GmbH, Coal Products Limited, the University of York, Bioeconomy For Change, Huntsman Advanced Materials GmbH, AgroParisTech Innovation, PNO Consultants and PFA Ltd from 6 European countries representing the solvent value-chain from feedstock to market uptake. The ReSolute Flagship project will be carried out over 51 months, from October 2020, with an overall budget of €55 million which includes €11.6 million funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) which is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).
In ReSolute’s first 36 months, the main results achieved include:
• Circa has secured the additional funding required to meet the full costs of the project build by means of a successful listing on the Norwegian stock exchange raising >€50 million in March 2021 and securing a multimillion Relance grant from the French government in 2022.
• ReSolute plant site preparation and construction is underway with the completion of the initial work phases for the ReSolute Flagship plant. Construction works on brownfield existing buildings began September 2021 with final planning permission awarded September 2023.
• A reliable source of biomass feedstock has been negotiated and secured.
• R&D towards the development of Cyrene applications has made strong progress including in the manufacture of PAIs, membranes, pharmaceuticals and graphene technologies.
• The development of blended Cyrene solvents enabled Merck to successfully launch onto the market two Cyrene blends targeting the pharmaceutical industry.
• Valorisation work on the ReSolute plant biochar for use in higher added-value carbon applications has shown strong promise with CPL launching onto the market in 2023 a biochar product developed using ReSolute R&D
• Notable progress in upgrading Cyrene’s REACH dossier from Annex VIII to Annex IX has been made with the submission of the registration dossier and toxicity testing ongoing.
• Communications and dissemination have been key with over 1 million people reached to date, predominantly in France via a media campaign including radio interviews and a visit to the ReSolute site by the French State Minister of Industry in 2021 as well as the Président de la region Grand-Est in 2022.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Since October 2020, the ReSolute project has progressed well with the plant being built on an old coalfired power station near Carling Saint-Avold in north-eastern France. The scope includes the land, buildings, energy, steam and utilities which have supported the plant’s final costing, environmental assessment and other key evaluations. To mark the start of the plant build preparatory work, the French Minister of State for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, visited the site in December 2021 and was joined by regional and local government officials.
The ReSolute plant supports the region’s plan to transition from a fossil-based industry to a more sustainable, greener and low-carbon economy that provides skilled jobs in clean technologies. In 2022 the project’s coordinator, Circa, was awarded a €8.2 million grant by the “France Relance” Programme for further development of the ReSolute plant.
Wider societal implications of ReSolute include:
• Creation of new cross-sector circular bioeconomy connections linking the forestry sector directly to pharmaceuticals, chemicals and materials via bio-based chemicals.
• ReSolute contributes positively to the transformation of the local regional economy and the industrial site where it is located. The site housed a coal-based power plant due to be closed and repurposing the site will attract green industry beyond ReSolute and create jobs while accelerating regional transformation.
• With rising energy and supply-chain security risks driving deglobalisation, ReSolute provides a model for sustainable supply-chains which use local biomass feedstocks to manufacture low-carbon, safer, sustainable chemicals.
• Knowledge associated with manufacturing and downstream end-use of LGO/Cyrene has been increased and shared through work carried in the ReSolute project. This new know-how will create new opportunities along the value-chain and further develop EU bio-based chemical and advanced manufacturing expertise.
In the next project phase Circa will commence an intensive construction phase as the final permits are received. ReSolute partners are confident in the plant design and are assured it will provide an important template for future large-scale plants to be built from. Work on developing Cyrene downstream applications, valorisation of the biochar co-product and ensuring regulatory compliance with strong product quality assurance and LCA sustainability data is progressing to plan.

French Minister of State for Industry applauds the switch to green chemistry at the ReSolute Plant