In the Netherlands, lignin will replace bitumen as an asphalt binder on a stretch of road being constructed in Vlissingen.
Road construction uses large amounts of bitumen, a mixture of hydrocarbons generated during oil refining that binds and strengthens asphalt. Bioasphalt firm H4A will use lignin sourced from Finland’s Stora Enso for the test patch, which is set for paving this Friday. Circular Biobased Delta first had the idea to use lignin, a waste product of paper production that is often burned. The project, dubbed Collaboration in aspHalt Applications with LIgniN, or CHAPLIN-XL, was funded by a subsidy from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland).
“If the experiences with this road surface are positive, then the large-scale roll-out of it will follow throughout the rest of the country,” according to a joint press release from the universities of Wageningen and Utrecht, H4A and Circular Biobased Delta.