The hydrothermal conversion of cellulose-rich wastes deriving from the papermaking process to levulinic acid as smart opportunity for their re-use and valorization

In recent years, the interest of industry has deeply increased towards the exploitation of any kind of waste biomass for the synthesis of new valuable biofuels and bioproducts, in place of the dwindling traditional fossil ones. This approach is strongly encouraged by the Waste Management Policy, which favours the waste re-use rather than its immediate landfill disposal, by this way achieving significant environmental, social and economic benefits. In this context, levulinic acid (LA) represents a promising building blocks, being a valuable intermediate for the synthesis of new fuel additives, fragrances, solvents, pharmaceuticals, and plasticizers. Certainly, the fundamental requirement for the choice of the starting feedstock is its high cellulose content, and wastes deriving from the papermaking process fully meet this specification. In this work, the optimization of the hydrolysis reaction of this waste has confirmed the above statements.