Zero waste bio-refineries: The example of Brazilian pulp and paper sector

摘要

The bio-based economy is a concept associated with the development of renewable resources management in a modern society, related to biomass, but also to the biogenic fraction of society's generated wastes (Navia and Mohanty, 2012). About 170b t per year of biomass are produced by nature, of which only 3.5% (6b t) are utilised by mankind. Most of these 6b t are used for food, about one-third is for energy, paper, furniture and construction, and only 0.175% (300m t) are consumed for other non-food purposes, such as chemicals and clothing (Shen et al., 2009). Simultaneously, modern bio-refineries are understood as the synergistic processes that enable the whole use and valorisation of biomass. The concept behind sustainable and circular use of biomass, by implementing novel biomass bio-refinery processes, first focuses on high-value-added products and extraction of marketable chemicals, followed by biomaterials development and finally including the bio-energetic use of the residual biomass (Navia and Chamy, 2017).