Recirculation: A New Concept to Drive Innovation in Sustainable Product Design for Bio-Based Products

Abstract

Bio-based products are made from renewable materials, offering a promising basis for the production of sustainable chemicals, materials, and more complex articles. However, biomass is not a limitless resource or one without environmental and social impacts. Therefore, while it is important to use biomass and grow a bio-based economy, displacing the unsustainable petroleum basis of energy and chemical production, any resource must be used effectively to reduce waste. Standards have been developed to support the bio-based product market in order to achieve this aim. However, the design of bio-based products has not received the same level of attention. Reported here are the first steps towards the development of a framework of understanding which connects product design to resource efficiency. Research and development scientists and engineers are encouraged to think beyond simple functionality and associate value to the potential of materials in their primary use and beyond.

Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

“…It is worth noting that the use of biomass does not make bio-based products automatically sustainable or even, by definition, more sustainable than fossil-based products [58]. To this end, an SLCA therefore becomes crucial to compare "options, especially when complex supply chains are involved" [59].…”

First Attempt of Glycidol‐to‐Monoalkyl Glyceryl Ethers Conversion by Acid Heterogeneous Catalysis: Synthesis and Simplified Sustainability Assessment

“…[8,35] Generally,t his approachp ermitsM AGEst ob eo btained with high selectivity,f avoring the developmento fs olvents,i nm ostc ases with av ery low eco-toxicity [36] and with tunable properties. ChemSusChem 2018ChemSusChem , 11,1829ChemSusChem -1837 www.chemsuschem.org 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim using homogeneous Lewisa cid catalysts (Bi(OTf) 3 ,F e(OTf) 3 , and Al(OTf) 3 ), startingf rom glycidol( 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol) obtained as av alue-added product from the Epicerolp rocess. The best results were obtained by using 20 mol %K OH after 2h of reactiona t6 58C( 100 %c onversion and 93 %s electivity to terminal MAGEs) in the presence of different alcohols.…”

“…Glycidol 96 %, alcohols (ethanol, methanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, tert-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-octanol, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, benzyl alcohol), Nafion NR50, Amberlyst 15, silica, activated charcoal (AC), silica 30-60 mesh, graphene oxide (GO), montmorillonite K10 (M-K10), sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, chlorosulfonic acid, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), aluminium triflate (Al(OTf) 3 ), iron triflate (Fe(OTf) 3 ), and bismuth triflate (Bi(OTf) 3 )w ere purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Glycidol, ethanol, methanol, and 2-propanol were distilled prior to use in the experiments.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] As ector of enormous importance is the use of vegetable oils for the production of biodiesel and bio-based building blocks. [1][2][3][4] As ector of enormous importance is the use of vegetable oils for the production of biodiesel and bio-based building blocks.…”

“…Over the last few decades, an increasing amounto fi nterest from academic and industrial researchers has been devoted to the valorization of renewable sources, considered as valuable feedstocks for chemicals production. [1][2][3][4] As ector of enormous importance is the use of vegetable oils for the production of biodiesel and bio-based building blocks. Amongthese, glycerol represents one of the major worldwide drop-in chemicals.…”