Final Workshop of the WoodZymes European Project

The WoodZymes project, a Research & Innovation Action funded by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaken (BBI JU), will conclude next November after three and half years of collaboration between eleven European institutions and companies coordinated from the Centre for Biological Research Margarita Salas (CIB) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). In a final online event to be held on November, 4th, the main achievements and conclusions attained in the project will be shown, together with an overview of two related BBI JU funded projects (UNRAVEL and SMARTBOX) dealing with valorisation of lignocellulose components by different approaches. A general outlook of the overall achievements and perspectives of the BBI JU initiative will be also presented.

The overall aim of WoodZymes was to develop tailor-made enzymes able to work under the extreme operation conditions of pH and temperature commonly utilized by the wood-processing industries, including kraft pulp mills. These extremophilic enzymes and extremozyme-based processes, which have never been assayed in wood biorefineries, are devoted to enable the selective valorisation of currently underutilised biomass fractions, such as lignins and hemicelluloses, to provide high-value bio-based equivalents of petroleum-derived chemical building blocks.

The workshop program covers some selected topics from those addressed during the project, including extremozyme development and application for the recovery of phenolic compounds from enzymatic breakdown of technical lignin, as well as during the bleaching of kraft pulps to enable important savings of harsh chemicals. Example of end-user applications, such as the valorisation of lignin-derived compounds as bio-based precursors for adhesives in the manufacture of medium-density fibreboards and as components of insulation polyurethane foams will be also presented, concluding with some environmental and socio-economic aspects.

As will be shown during the event, the feasibility of this ambitious project has been based on the collaborative work of a strong European consortium from Portugal, France, Finland and Spain, formed by world-leading companies of the sectors of pulp & paper (The Navigator Company and Fibre Excellence), fibreboard manufacture (FINSA France) and insulation materials (Soprema), a biotech SME commercializing enzymes for biomass conversion (MetGen) and several research institutes (CIB, IRNAS and IATA from CSIC) and technology centres (RAIZ, CTP and FCBA) of the wood, cellulose, lignin and enzyme sectors.

This online webinar has been organized by WoodZymes partner FCBA in collaboration with the Coordination Team from CIB-CSIC, and can be followed via ZOOM upon free registration.