The REHAP project comes to an end with a series of exceptional results

The REHAP project, which set out five years ago to create a set of novel processes and materials from agricultural and forestry waste, came to an end in March of this year, and has now been declared a resounding success by reviewers.

The project delivered two new patents, three commercially viable products and a series of promising results that demonstrate the potential for significant economic impact.

REHAP project

In addition to the development of these results, REHAP also delivered important research results into the increased use of wood bark, straw and other natural waste, focussing on where in the EU such residues occur and in what quantities, and what the consequences of their use would be.

Not only did this research, carried out by the University of Augsburg, draw up detailed data about the availability of wood bark and straw in the EU, but it also developed sophisticated algorithms that map the interrelationships between the use of such waste and the impact that would have on things like soil quality, availability of animal bedding material and food production.

REHAP’s main objective

In terms of the development of novel processes and materials, REHAP’s main objective was the transformation of agroforestry residues into new sustainable and eco-efficient derivatives, comprising diol building blocks, high-performance additives (superplasticizers and flame retardants) and biobased polymeric resins (biophenolics and NIPUs).

The project also set out to demonstrate the potential use of these materials in several products at an industrial level and their application in sectors like construction. These products included new bioFire retardants based on phenolic and sugar wastes, for which a patent has been applied by TECNALIA.

One of the main successes of this ambition was the development of bioresins based on lignin and tannins, which were demonstrated by FORESA with a substitution of 50% of phenol which was able to obtain the same performance as the fossil-based equivalent at a better cost.

Another success was the development of 100% biopolyesterpolyols based on BDO and Biodiacids and applied with very good results to PIR foams and PU adhesives, which show better performance, although at a slightly higher price, than fossil-based equivalents.

With these successes, REHAP is expected to have significant impact in the bioeconomy, with associated benefits for society in terms of job creation and a reduction in the use of fossil-based products.

The companies from the project already involved in the exploitation of these results are predicting the creation of 50 new jobs themselves, while indirect new jobs likely to be created due to REHAP activities are predicted to be 200.

The REHAP website can be found here.

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Prepared by Shane Leonard