Sappi announced further progress in the development of its biorefinery capacity with the confirmation that it will construct a demonstration plant to further scale up its novel Xylex® technology for the production of Xylitol and Furfural.
The plant will be located adjacent to the existing sugars and lignin extraction plant at Ngodwana Mill. It should be operational early in 2019. Pending successful results and further approvals it is anticipated that Sappi may construct commercial Xylitol and Furfural plants adjacent to its mills in the USA and South Africa.
Louis Kruyshaar, EVP for Sappi Biotech, explained: "Sappi’s biorefinery plans are focused on building a sustainable, profitable business from the manufacture and sale of food ingredients, materials and chemical intermediates derived from the C5 sugars produced as a co-product of our dissolving wood pulp production, and from the lignin produced in our global pulp production."
The combination of Sappi’s operational excellence, the proposed co-location of the commercial plants at existing mill sites delivers strong integration synergies, and the cost advantages offered by Sappi’s scale and the Xylex® technology mean that Sappi will have a globally competitive cost base for sugars and xylitol and furfural production.
