Develop and prepare for commercialization of the surfactant sodium suberin hydrolyzate from industrial birch bark

The circular bioeconomy is focused on a sustainable and resource-efficient use of biomass as residues and waste and to optimize its value over time.

This project has aimed to develop and prepare for the commercialization of the surfactant sodium suberin hydrolyzate. Sodium suberin hydrolyzate is a new and unique surfactant bio-based product, which is produced from the residual stream of industrial birch bark, for use in primarily chemical technical products and cosmetics. Industrial bark from the sawmill, pulp and paper industry today is mainly used for energy recovery.

The focus of the project has been, in addition to the commercial preparations, to develop and design a cost-effective commercial process and to optimize the most critical steps. The process challenges are primarily the yield of suberin hydrolyzate at the reactor stage and the efficient separation of sodium suberin hydrolyzate from betulin and other bark material during the pressure filtration step.