Researchers from the CEF’s ForTec group are seeking to encourage strategies to control invasive acacias by reorienting their wood biomass waste towards pulp and paper production.
A new article published by members of the ForTec group at the Forest Research Centre (Centro de Estudos Florestais – CEF), Duarte Neiva, Maria Carolina Godinho and Jorge Gominho in partnership with Rogério Simões from the FibEnTech group at the University of Beira Interior.
Concerns on the expanding infestation of several Acacia species in the southern Mediterranean European countries have triggered an ever-growing requirement for costly targeted control actions. Valorizing biomass waste produced could help promote and better finance these actions. For that purpose, wood wastes from invasive control actions were tested regarding their pulp and paper potential, aiming to entice cellulose industries to partake in future conservation actions.
Wood waste from the five most pervasive Acacia species was studied (Acacia dealbata Link, Acacia longifolia Willd, Acacia mearnsii De Wild, Acacia melanoxylon R.Br, and Acacia saligna Labill) regarding physical and chemical characteristics, and a central composite design was used to optimize alkali charge and reaction temperature on pulping yield and delignification.
The paper is available online in the journal Forests under the title “Encouraging Invasive Acacia Control Strategies by Repurposing Their Wood Biomass Waste for Pulp and Paper Production” – full paper available here.