Exploiting waste paper crumble using industrial biotechnology

Palm Paper Ltd. recycles 400K tonnes of waste newsprint annually. This creates 140,000 tonnes paper crumble (PC) waste which costs £4m to dispose of by landspreading. PC comprises approximately 15-20% cellulose and 70% paper filler (calcium carbonate) with a little latex. The aim of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of innovatively digesting the cellulose to liberate glucose and to then refine the large carbonate fraction for re-incorporation into the newspaper production process. This will avoid disposal and reduce the import of new paper filler. The research will also assess the feasibility of converting the liberated glucose to chemicals and fuel ethanol by fermentation with specialist yeasts identified from the UK National Collection of Yeast Cultures at Norwich. The study will build on preliminary research carried out at the Biorefinery Centre, IFR, Norwich, in conjunction with industrial research expertise of Palm Paper, Lenzing, plc and Vireol plc. Additional sources of cellulose waste (e.g. waste paper, cellulose fibres) will be incorporated into the study to improve economies of scale as required. In this way, the project will serve to address three IB challenges: production of commodity, platform and intermediate chemicals and materials; production of liquid and gaseous biofuels and novel or improved upstream or downstream processes to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Palm Paper Ltd. recycles 400K tonnes of waste newsprint annually. This creates 140,000 tonnes paper crumble (PC) waste which costs £4m to dispose of by landspreading. PC comprises approximately 15-20% cellulose and 70% paper filler (calcium carbonate) with a little latex.
The aim of this project is to economically exploit hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste paper crumble and cellulosic wastes as sources of low cost glucose for the production of high value, fuels and platform chemicals and low-cost (recycled) calcium carbonate-based paper filler. This will build on preliminary lab-scale research carried out at the Biorefinery Centre, IFR, Norwich, in conjunction with industrial research expertise of Palm Paper, Lenzing, plc and Vireol plc.
The feasibility study will (a) evaluate the feasibility of innovatively digesting the cellulose using cellulose-degrading enzymes in order to release and then refine the large carbonate fraction for re-incorporating into the newpaper production process thus avoiding disposal and reducing the import of new paper filler. This will involve the exploitation of rapid throughput screening facilities in order to identify the best enzymes and hydrolysis conditions. (b) To convert the liberated glucose in to chemicals and fuel ethanol by fermentation with specialist yeasts. This will involve exploiting the UK National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC) in order to identify specialist yeasts for producing targeted organic acids (e.g. succinic acid and itaconic acid).
The project will also assess the feasibility of exploiting additional sources of cellulose waste (e.g. waste paper, cellulose fibres) to improve economies of scale as required. Furthermore, the approach will completely avoid any use of "feedstocks from material that could be used for human food or animal feed". These approaches will ensure total waste exploitation and economic and environmental sustainability.

As described in proposal submitted to IUK.