2022-02-21

FERALCO IBERIA participates REPAPEL, a project that promotes the Circular Economy in the Basque industry

The project seeks the recovery of high value-added compounds present in the waste streams of pulp and paper manufacturing and their use in other industrial sectors.

Since its foundation in the 1950s, FERALCO IBERIA has been intimately linked to the paper sector as a supplier of chemical products for its processes. In its DNA is also the care of the environment, because these same products are fundamental for the treatment of drinking water and wastewater.

Aligning these two aspects, and driven by the spirit of the group's management to participate more and more in circular economy initiatives, the opportunity to participate in the REPAPEL project arises.

The new Circular Economy plan is one of the main components of the European Green Deal, a new political agenda that proposes a transition to a sustainable growth model that in turn increases Europe's competitiveness at a global level.  This transition is one of the prerequisites for achieving the ambitious climate neutrality target we have set for ourselves in the EU by 2050.

REPAPEL

The REPAPEL project aims at industrial research and experimental development to find technological and management solutions for a new way of recovering wastes and by-products of pulp and paper production.

Four pilot-scale demonstrators will be developed. These will allow the evaluation of new technologies for the recovery of 5 streams of waste and by-products of the paper industry (Ash from the recovery of bio-waste; Dregs and caustification sludge; Black liquor; and Sludge from in situ effluent treatment) in different sectors (the paper sector itself, the construction sector, the water treatment sector and the chemical sector).

REPAPEL is a three-year (2021-23) R&D project with a 4,5 M € budget. It has been endorsed by the Basque Government through the HAZITEK program of the SPRI, within the category of strategic projects.  

CONSORTIUM

REPAPEL is a project with strong business leadership that brings together the entire value chain of the sector and shares a common strategy in the field of circular economy and bioeconomy. It has two international benchmarks companies  in the paper sector, as well as leaders in the engineering, waste treatment, asphalt, concrete and chemical sectors  , in collaboration with 2 agents of the Basque Network of Science, Technology and Innovation (TECNALIA Research & Innovation and CEIT), as well as the support of the EUSKADI PAPER CLUSTER and ACLIMA,  BASQUE ENVIROMENT CLUSTER.

FERALCO

Once lignin has been extracted from black liquor and sludge from the paper industry, FERALCO's objective  within the project is to synthesize flocculants that can be used both in the paper production process itself, and in the treatment of wastewater, both industrial and municipal.