Valmet and Biochemtex join forces for the development of biochemicals from lignin

The Italian company Biochemtex, which is part of the Mossi Ghisolfi group, has recently started a partnership with the Finnish Valmet with the aim of joining forces in using their respective technologies to transform lignin into second-generation biochemicals. In particular, Valmet’s LignoBoost technology will be harmonized and integrated wit that of Moghi at Biochemtex to extract purified lignin from black liquor, i.e. a paper mill waste product, to turn lignin into biochemicals and biofuels. As Biochemtext CEO Giovanni Bolcheni puts it, «this partnership is a further opportunity to provide the market with second-generation biochemicals, whereby we are already working in this field with Beta Renewables. The collaboration with Valmet will enable us to widen our feedstock availability to produce bio- paraxylene (bioPX), i.e. a key raw material to obtain 100% PET from renewable resources. The existing pilot plants and the demonstration plant currently being built in Italy, together with the skills and knowledge of the two companies, will provide a solid base to achieve positive and rapid results». Rickard Andersson, Vice President for Valmet’s Biotech and Environmental Systems, explains that «Valmet is constantly developing new sustainable technologies to enhance the value of lignin. The combination of the LignoBoost and Moghi technologies is one among a series of very promising solutions we are currently examining in our technology biochemical development unit».