CelCycle
Pulp and Paper Institute was a leading partner in the R&D programme »Potential of biomass for development of advanced materials and bio-based products« connecting 21 companies and research organizations. Cel.cycle was selected by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport as strategic research, development and innovation programs on the priority area of the Slovenian Smart Specialization Strategy (S4) “The natural and traditional resources for the future, Networks for the transition to the circular economy” and was co-financed by EU Structural Funds in Slovenia. More information on: www.celkrog.si.
APPLAUSE (Alien PLAnt SpEcies)
The project addresses problem of dealing with invasive alien plant species and explores possibilities of their useful use with active involvement of City of Ljubljana residents. Invasive alien plant species can be a rich source of cellulose fibers and ICP, a project partner, is exploring the possibilities of their use for paper production and innovative paper products that are environmentally friendly, biodegradable and compliant with the concept of a circular economy and zero waste green technology.
More about project: https://www.ljubljana.si/sl/moja-ljubljana/applause/
BRIDGE2BIO - Bridging Gaps in Bioeconomy: from Foresty and Agriculture Biomass to Innovative Technological solutions
Based on the analysis of the availability and utilization of the biomass resources in Slovenia, the project is addressing the gaps that are limiting the development of the new value chain for efficient use of natural resources and supports development of the recommendations for the policy design and tools in support for bioeconomy in Slovenia.
The three-year project (2018-2021) involves the Biotechnical Faculty and the Faculty of Social Sciences of University of Ljubljana, the National Institute of Chemistry, the Pulp and Paper Institute, the Slovenian Forestry Institute and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. The following areas are in our focus:
- bioeconomy status in Slovenia,
- availability and utilization of agricultural and forest biomass resources in Slovenia,
- gaps, that limit integration for the efficient use of agricultural and forest biomass in Slovenia,
- innovative partnerships for the bioeconomy development in Slovenia,
- forming support measures and accompanying activities for the Slovenian bioeconomy.
BIOEASTsUP: Advancing Sustainable Circular Bioeconomy in Central and Eastern European countries
The overall objective of BIOEASTsUP project is to support the BIOEAST initiative in the implementation of its Vision for 2030 and Action Plan for transition of 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) to bioeconomy. This will be done by engaging the relevant stakeholders, accenting sustainable circular bioeconomy on the CEE governments’ agenda improving macro-regional cooperation formats with downstream and upstream linkages of agri-food sector, and supporting national bioeconomy strategies development. The project will advance the BIOEAST initiative to become a catalyst for a research and innovation, rural development and other policies towards bioeconomy development in the CEE by creation of favourable inter-sectoral framework for sustainable deployment of biomass potential. Our institute is a linked third party in the project.
Catalytically-assisted high efficiency and low-cost nanostructured sensors based on modified screen printed electrodes for analytical chemistry
ICP was a joint partner in a 3-year project (2017-2020), which was coordinated by Jožef Stefan Institute. ICP will - together with the Institute for the environmental protection and sensors - research different electrochemical technics for deposition of nano-modified Ni, CO-based metals and their printed electrode modification. The research resulted in the development of new economically viable sensor devices for field analysis of organic and/or inorganic components as formaldehyde (HCHO) with possibilities of branching the results to other elements like hydrogen peroxide and methanol. The Pulp and Paper Institute was responsible for the process optimization of electrodeposition on printed electrodes, the development of printed electrode and autonomous sensor and participates in the final calibration and validation of autonomous sensor platforms which are developed during the process.
Publications from the project:
Kavčič, U.; Karlovits, I.,(2020). The influence of process parameters of screen-printed invasive plant paper electrodes on cyclic voltammetry. Nord Pulp Pap Res J 2020, 35(2), pp.299-307. DOI:10.1515/npprj-2019-0070
Kavčič, U.; Karlovits, I.; Zule, J. (2020) Deinking of Screen-Printed Electrodes Printed on Invasive Plant-Based Paper. Sustainability , 12, 1350. DOI: 10.3390/su12041350
Poly4emi
The aim of the Poly4emi project – lead by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia and funded from the EU Commission the - was to identify new business opportunities emerging from the use of biopolymers. Pulp and Paper Institute was engaged in the organization of the focused the workshops »The potential of biopolymers - from natural raw materials to advanced materials and products«, where experts from different industries and research organizations discussed opportunities for development and use of biopolymers in cross-sectoral cooperation. Six potential new value chains were identified: (1) Bio-based packaging for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, (2) Production and use of nanocellulose, (3) Encapsulation of biomaterials, (4) Bio-based materials in thermal insulation panels, (5) High-performing protection coatings, and (6) Printed electronics and advanced packaging. Further on, participating companies and R&D institutions defined number of joint development projects on each of the identified topics (21 in total). International evaluation committee selected the most promising of them which were also supported with the start-up funds.
EcoPaperLoop
The project which was completed in the end of 2014 was co-financed by EU/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and individual project partners. It was focused on how to improve the quality of paper for recycling. The project was conceived and implemented in compliance with the development strategy of Central Europe. Ten partners from five countries (Italy -3, Germany-3, Hungary-1, Poland-1 and Slovenia-2) participated in the implementation of the project. The results are published in a book where guidelines concerning recycling, recyclability of paper products, eco-design, collection strategies, sustainable development as well as political recommendations are collected. During the project, partners developed and validated the EPL method for recyclability determination of packaging products, which was translated to several languages. More information is available on http://www.ecopaperloop.eu/.
KROP- Active and Inteligent Packagingh
European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport co-financed the activites for strengtening R & D departments in enterprises. ICP has obtained the funds to form new research team and starting R&D projects on advanced materials, ecology and technologies in packaging.
The project was implemented in the period from 2012 till 2014 and was divided into four subprojects that addressed key challenges of active and intelligent packaging.
Functionalization of the substrate surface and development of special structural and surface properties was the first subproject addressing application of nanoparticles on cellulose fibers, development of coatings based on polymeric composites and development of lower basic weight papers with improved mechanical properties. The results of the first part were crucial for the development of new methodology for the active packaging quality assesment, addressed in the second subproject. In this segment, research was focused on the development of a new methodology for determining effectiveness of antimicrobial agents. The objective of the third subproject was development of sensors and indicators and the humidity sensors printed directly on the paper and cardboard were developed. The last segment of the project focused on ecological issues associated with packaging waste. Methods for determination of genotoxicity and mutagenicity of conductive inks and for the LCA of the packaging were studied.
Three patents on printed electronics were registered as a result of the project and successful cooperation was initiated with several research institutes as well as with the industry.
CRP project Rational use of hardwoods with a focus on beech wood
ICP participates in a research project (2014-2017), which is co-financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP) and Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARRS). The participating partners are from different areas of the forestry-wood chain: Biotechnical Faculty UL– Department of Wood Science and Technology and Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Slovenian Forestry Institute, Slovenian Forest Service and Pulp and Paper Institute. Beech is our most important wood species, so rational management of beech forests and available wood biomass is extremely important. The purpose of the project is evaluation of the condition of beech stands and forests, determination of quality and quantity of wood and critical survey of wood assessment methods as well as proposal of optimal solutions for modernisation of processing technologies and efficiency improvement of the entire forestry-wood chain. A particular emphasis was devoted to alternative uses of low quality biomass and residues for chemical processing. http://crp-bukev.bf.uni-lj.si/
Publications from the project:
Zule, J., Gornik Bučar, D. and Kropivšek, J., 2016. Inovativna raba bukovine slabše kakovosti in ostankov. Les/Wood, 66(1), pp.41-51. DOI:10.26614/les-wood.2017.v66n01a04
Zule, J., Bolka, S. and Slapnik, J., 2016. Ocena primernosti bukove žagovine kot ojačitvene komponente pri pripravi termoplastičnih biokompozitov. Acta Silvae et Ligni, 110, pp.39-48. DOI:10.20315/ASetL.110.2
