ZELLULÄR - Circular pulp-based products from paper industry waste

Laufzeit: 01.04.2026-31.03.2029
Funding reference number: EFRE-20801954

Initial situation:

The paper industry aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. One approach to reducing the use of fossil fuels is the production of biogas from waste materials from the paper industry. In the RE-Papier and Plus RE-Papier projects (funded by Leitmarkt Agentur. NRW) at FH Aachen, an anaerobic process for biogas production from waste materials was successfully established. Biogas production, to which nutrients are added to optimise the process, produces a fermentation product in addition to the biogas. Its agricultural use as fertiliser is prohibited by the Fertiliser Ordinance. This results in a residue that would have to be disposed of at high cost. In order to implement biogas production economically on an industrial scale in companies, utilisation and purification technologies must be developed for the fermentation product.

The project:

The project aims to reuse short fibre fractions that are left over from the production of recycled paper. This waste is first used in the biogas process. Biogas, a climate-neutral energy source, is thus provided as a natural gas equivalent or for electricity and heat production. The resulting fermentation product is separated into a solid and liquid phase, whereby the solid phase can be used as a sustainable (building) material in the cement industry, for example. Nitrogen is filtered out of the liquid phase and made available as fertiliser. The water is then treated so that it can be reused as process water, for example. This project thus turns waste into energy, building material, fertiliser and clean water. ysen.

Objectives:

This process is to be realised on a semi-industrial scale so that a container plant can be used flexibly by various paper companies. This process strengthens the region or municipality through the variety of products created, as regional recycling products (fertiliser, building materials, renewable energy and water) are created for direct local use. In the project, the city of Düren as a paper region and FH Aachen as a university with a strong research focus in the fields of sustainability and energy are working closely together on application-oriented solutions to increase regional value creation. The aim of the project is to recycle and circulate industrial waste materials into high-quality products with monetary value, strengthen the region and secure jobs without losing sight of sustainability.