Stora Enso has launched NeoLigno, a lignin-based binder for particleboard and insulation applications. NeoLigno is a bio-based binder that is made from lignin, an organic polymer that comes from wood. It is primarily suited to particleboard and insulation applications. Source: Timberbiz
Using a bio-based binder makes the end product both safer to make and safer to use, all without having to compromise on technical performance.
The product comes from sustainably managed, traceable forests with FSC and PEFCTM chain-of-custody and ISO 14001 environmental management certifications.
The most recent development with NeoLigno has been in a project called 100% fossil-free structural boards and building elements, a collaboration between Stora Enso, IsoTimber and Moelven.
The project is part of the strategic innovation program BioInnovation, which is in turn funded by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas. It is coordinated by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) with the aim of developing 100% bio-based and circular com-ponents that can help the construction industry improve its sustainability performance.
The construction industry generates a significant collective carbon footprint. Both Moelven and IsoTimber are taking action to reduce their impacts on the environment by turning to a more sustainable alternative material source, wood. This natural material is central to every partner’s work, making the joint project a logical collaboration as they work together to drive the industry forward.
The construction industry’s emissions largely occur from fossil-based building materials such as concrete and steel. Wood-based alternative materials present an improvement in this sense. But the chemicals used to treat wood such as the binding agentsare traditionally of fossil or crude oil origin.
The aim of the project 100 % fossil-free structural boards and building elements is to develop fully bio-based and circular methods for the production of building blocks and building elements, in order to decrease the carbon footprint without having to compromise on the end product’s efficacy.
Moelven is producing plywood panels while IsoTimber makes building blocks made partially of plywood. Stora Enso is supplying NeoLigno, which acts as a bio-based binder for the plywood and the building blocks produced by Moelven and IsoTimber respectively.
The project is still ongoing, but the current status is that the construction plywood and building blocks have been successfully produced, using NeoLigno, in an industrial scale. Next up is extensive testing of the properties of the two products.
Lab testing has already established that NeoLigno is able to match or exceed the performance of traditional binders used in plywood and building blocks. The operational success of the project provides validation on the commercial potential of products implementing NeoLigno as the binder.
