Editorials

The US and the EU have adopted contrasting pathways in their pursuit of increased sustainability. This editorial highlights such contrasts with respect to paper and nonwovens products. The American way, at least at the federal level, depends on consumer input, which can have an impact on corporate decisions and practices. Progress with respect to sustainability in the European Union has a higher reliance upon regulations. Each approach has merits as well as deficiencies. A regulation-dependent approach sometimes just moves problems to other parts of the world. A consumer-driven approach does not have a good way to deal with a need for systematic change, such as systems to recycle textile and nonwoven materials. It follows that a combined approach, involving both consumer demand and regulations, can be recommended as a most effective path forward. In addition, applications of artificial intelligence have potential to reconcile societal needs with future industrial practices.

Lignin, a subject of extensive study in academies and industries, is known for its natural abundance, biodegradability, and potential to be transformed into biochemicals and biomaterials. However, the original biomass and extraction treatments, such as kraft pulping and the organosolv process, significantly influence its chemical structure, leading to variations in reactivity. Unfortunately, many scientific publications fail to provide comprehensive lignin property descriptions, which hampers experiment reproducibility and literature comparison. This, in turn, hinders fundamental studies and scientific advancements. This editorial aims to address this issue by advocating for including lignin characteristics in scientific papers when possible.

In recent years, lignocellulosic materials have become regarded as attractive and noteworthy natural resources owing to their renewability, recyclability, easy processability, abundance, biodegradability, and low cost. The developments in nanotechnology have opened new doors in the field of bio-based nanosensor technology, which is utilized in electronics, optical products, communication, automotive, packaging, tissue engineering, biomedical, textile, etc. This paper mainly focuses on the usage of lignocellulosic materials in nanosensors.

Trees represent a cherished treasure for each nation. They provide a living, soulful, and earthly material, wood, which most often survives millennia and embellishes our everyday life. Wood can be transformed into valuable pieces of art under skilled hands and tools through carving. In Romania, wood is omnipresent in each milepost of people’s life journey from birth to death. It becomes a true and empathic companion of both happy and sad events. Wood teaches us to focus on the present moment and to let go of stressful thoughts and feelings. It is a real valuable “good” in our life.

This editorial draws a parallel between important papermaking innovations that were implemented by Mahatma Gandhi and some more recent ventures in papermaking in India. Both of these examples share common themes of fostering the skills of local people, using local resources, and contributing to a better future. A key insight is the scaling of the equipment to be well matched with the size of the production team and enabling a broad range of product grades. The case study considered introduces a modern twist – using papermaking to achieve circularity in the production of textiles. As in the early days of European papermaking, once again waste textile products are serving as the primary source of material.

With over 20 years in pulp and paper, my career has been shaped by foundational research and teaching as well as by BioResources, a journal that has significantly supported my work. This editorial reflects on key stages in my academic journey and the pivotal role BioResources has played in advancing my research and connecting the global pulp and paper community.

As research scientists go, few rival the volume of work that Dr. Peter Hart produced. His career reflects his willingness to guide budding pulp & paper scientists when he was the Director of Fiber Technology and Innovation at WestRock, as well as an adjunct professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University. He brought his wealth of knowledge to those working in industry and academia; a rarity for anyone with his acumen. His support to graduate research reflects the quality of the publications of researchers such as Dr. Ricardo Santos and Dr. Juliana Jardim; both of whom tackled challenging subjects related to lignin degradation kinetics in kraft pulping and lignin precipitation from kraft black liquor, respectively. In his last academic project, Dr. Hart invested his remaining life to support PhD work to study how lignin-carbohydrate complexes influence lignin precipitation from kraft black liquor. Dr. Hart provided opportunities for young scientists to achieve their goals and provided them with a safe space to learn within research.

To reduce plastic pollution, it is of interest to develop biodegradable molded fiber products from recovered cellulose-containing residues as an alternative to single-use plastics. Primary questions to be addressed include how to compound molded fiber products from the recycling of paper or cardboard and agricultural residual wastes via combined vacuum thermo-forming and post-drying or synergistic cold and hot press approaches. In addition, consumers will have high expectations regarding barriers for moisture and grease. It is proposed here to produce uniform barrier molded fiber products via a Pickering emulsion approach with chemically recycled waxes from thermolysis of waste polyolefins. It is further proposed to develop a closed-loop process for recyclable molded products and up-cycling lignocellulosic fibers reinforced biomass-derivable vitrimer bio-composites for sustainable packaging. The development of molded fiber products makes it possible to mitigate the usage of single-use plastics.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are alternatives to fossil fuels produced from biological or non-fossil feedstocks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) route, alcohol (ethanol, isobutanol, or butanol) dehydration is the key conversion step to create long-chain hydrocarbons. In this context, this Editorial deals with the ethanol-to-ethylene-to-jet route (EEJ) technology and challenges for producing SAF from lignocellulosic biomass waste (LCBW).

Today, Industry 5.0 can be regarded as the latest stage of industrial revolution, where collaboration between humans and smart technologies reaches a new level. This editorial presents insights into Industry 5.0. It explains the concept of Industry 5.0 according to the latest developments, in its three fundamental pillars: human-centric, sustainable, and resilient. Finally, it discusses how Industry 5.0 can contribute to sustainability.