A Comparison of Functional Fillers—Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Air Pollutants from Lignin-Based Filler, Carbon Black and Silica

Kathleen Meisel, Lisa Röver, Stefan Majer, Benjamin Herklotz and Daniela Thrän
Additional contact information
Kathleen Meisel: Bioenergy Systems Department, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum Gemeinnützige GmbH, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Lisa Röver: Biorefineries Department, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum Gemeinnützige GmbH, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Stefan Majer: Bioenergy Systems Department, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum Gemeinnützige GmbH, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Benjamin Herklotz: Biorefineries Department, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum Gemeinnützige GmbH, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Daniela Thrän: Bioenergy Systems Department, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum Gemeinnützige GmbH, 04347 Leipzig, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: The transformation from a fossil-based economy to a sustainable and circular bioeconomy is urgently needed to achieve the climate targets of the Paris Agreement, reduce air pollution and ensure a long-term competitive economy. Due to its carbonaceous and aromatic basic components, lignin has the potential for material valorization within bioeconomy. So far, lignin produced in the pulp and paper industry has mainly been used internally to generate thermal process energy, as it is difficult to extract it from biomass in a pure and unaltered form. The valorization of lignin to improve the economics of pulp mills is a current aim of the industry. Hydrothermal treatment (HTT) of a partial flow from the lignin stream to produce a functional filler for use in polymer blends is one valorization option. The environmental assessment of the lignin-based HTT filler, conducted using life cycle assessment (LCA), shows that substitution of the conventional fillers carbon black and silica could be associated with significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. Depending on the allocation methodology and the reference filler considered, approx. 5 kg CO 2 eq./kg filler, 80–93% SO 2 emissions, 27–79% PM emissions, and 88–98% PAH emissions can be saved.

Keywords: lignin; filler; hydrothermal treatment (HTT); life cycle assessment (LCA); greenhouse gas emissions; air pollutants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5393/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5393/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5393-:d:805934

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().