The awarded project “Novel lignin-based plastics for sustainable polymer industry – BioStyrene” (Project) (ER30) is now officially launched and will be implemented by 5 partners: University of Tartu, Saint Petersburg State Forest Technical University, TBD-Biodiscovery Ltd, the research-and-production company «VAPA» Co Ltd and “Plastpolymer” Joint-stock company.
Two more organizations from Finland are involved in project implementation as associated partners: Stora Enso Oyj and CH-Bioforce Oy.
The Project coming under Thematic Objective (TO) 1 “Business and SME development” will focus on the development of a scalable process to replace fossil based non-biodegradable styrene used in polymer industry with a potentially biodegradable bio-based styrene counterpart from wood biomass and test the applications of this material in new products.
Within the course of 35 months the number of new solutions and studies will be developed jointly by Project partners, including:
- The development and the small-scale testing of various styrene-type monomers from lignin in a laboratory setting.
- Scale-up and adjustment of the synthesis process to ensure high yield and cost-efficiency.
- Testing of the selected monomers in different plastics and coatings by SMEs.
The project overall budget is EUR 586 986,56which includes Programme co-financing in the amount of EUR 437 617,00.