Lixea Sweden AB, a technology development company with a mission to repurpose waste into profitable and sustainable materials, has been granted EUR 21.5 million by the Innovation Fund. The grant will be used to build and operate a commercial pilot plant, demonstrating a completely new method for biomass fractionation based on ionic liquids. The project will enable the replacement of fossil materials with biobased alternatives in applications where it has not been previously possible, thereby advancing the transition to a bio-based economy. Spinverse experts supported Lixea in their successful funding proposal.
The need for bio-based transition
Today the world is heavily dependent on materials that are derived from unsustainable and non-renewable, fossil sources. As the energy sector is transitioning away from fossil raw materials, the material sector needs to do the same. However, every year over a billion tonnes of plant, agricultural and wood waste are discarded or burnt worldwide. These bio-based and sustainable raw materials hold significant potential for materials production. The problem is that to date, there has not been a technological solution for cost-efficient processing of that raw material into useful chemicals and materials.
The revolutionary solution
Lixea’s patented Dendronic® technology, initially developed at Imperial College London and piloted in Sweden, breaks down the lignocellulosic biomass into chemical building blocks in an environmentally friendly and low-cost way. The process is based on ionic liquids, setting it apart from traditional biomass treatment technologies, and enabling efficient conversion of the biomass into well-defined building blocks that can be used in the chemical, materials and fuel industries.
Towards the bio-based future
The L1X project led by Lixea will scale up the technology and build a first-of-its-kind production plant in Slovakia. The plant will process 25 000 tonnes of biomass per year and produce cellulose, lignin and furfural which will be used to replace fossil-based materials in diverse application areas, including moulded fibre and packaging solutions, thermoplastics and resins. The project is estimated to avoid 526 360 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the first 10 operating years. The project results will help Lixea to scale up the novel technology globally.
Spinverse supported Lixea in their successful project proposal process
Spinverse experts worked together with Lixea in the proposal preparation, leading to success in the highly competitive Innovation Fund call. The Spinverse team was led by Tapio Lehtinen and included Jyrki Salmi, Marja Jallinoja and Elisabeth Packalén.
Lixea’s CEO, Krisztina Kovacs-Schreiner reflected on the grant writing process and said: “Spinverse was an invaluable partner in reaching the next big milestone in our venture to turn the vision of sustainability into everyday reality for us all. Their patience and dedication helped to translate our complex, deep-tech proposal into a successful grant application - they were team members in every sense, and we are grateful for their expertise and support. We very much look forward to working with the team again in the near future!”
Photo credit: Lixea.
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This project supports the following UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG):
