PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Pulp and paper production based on wood fibre is among one of the most resource intensive and polluting manufacturing industries. Besides the need for wood fibre, the lack of sustainability in current processes lies mainly in the high consumption of energy, water and chemicals. Given the growing impact of climate change and the pressing need to reduce net CO2 emissions, it is necessary to thoroughly revise the entire paper supply chain and replace conventional manufacturing approaches and resources with sustainable, future-proof technologies that utilise renewable resources.
Alternatively, non-wood fibres from agricultural residues have proven to deliver fibres of suitable quality for the production of paper and cardboard. Among these, straw fibres from wheat and barley are important non-wood fibre resources with advantageous properties. Currently, large quantities of cereal straw are left to decay in fields or are burned. While the repurposing of cereal straw into paper is a known process, it is yet to be fully implemented in the industry. This is primarily due to the suboptimal physical and optical properties of paper made from cereal straw and lack of technology capable of processing straw without affecting the fibres’ properties.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of Life Straw was to demonstrate and validate new technologies and materials that enable the production of high-quality paper labels and folding cartons while reducing the use of virgin wood fibres.
The main expected results were:
- For paper labels, the project aimed to replace 65% to 75% of virgin wood with straw.
- For folding cartons, the goal was to replace 10 to 30% of virgin wood with straw, with the remainder made up of recycled corrugated cardboard.
RESULTS
This project was not implemented as foreseen and did not achieve its expected results.
Only small-scale trials were conducted. Medium- and large-scale trials were abandoned due to supply chain bottlenecks and the necessity for technical re-scoping. In addition, an initial impact monitoring assessment led to the need for reassessment of the economic viability of the project.
Due to these problems, the original timeline was significantly prolonged, while the project indicators to be achieved after 3 to 5 years were significantly reduced. Given the significant impact on the rollout schedule, the project was terminated early by the beneficiary.