Agenda

24-11-2025 /
Sheraton Brussels Airport

Bioaromatics on the Rise: Why you should get on board with this innovative biobased material | Sheraton Brussels Airport

Biorizon, the shared research center on bioaromatics initiated by VITO and TNO, invites you to explore the exciting world of lignin-derived bioaromatics during a satellite event of Pitch Perfect and Boost the European Bioeconomy 2025. This innovative and sustainable approach to chemistry is poised to transform industries with new, greener alternatives to fossil-based materials.

What to Expect

Biorizon, the shared research center on bioaromatics initiated by VITO and TNO, invites you to explore the exciting world of lignin-derived bioaromatics. This innovative and sustainable approach to chemistry is poised to transform industries with new, greener alternatives to fossil-based materials.

Why Aromatics Matter

Aromatics are everywhere — from coatings and composites to insulation and construction materials. They don’t just improve performance — they also offer essential features like fire resistance and UV protection.

The Challenge

Traditional aromatics are primarily fossil-based, raising issues related to strategic dependency, carbon emissions, and chemical safety. With increasing pressure to reduce environmental impact, the need for renewable and non-toxic alternatives is more urgent than ever.

By using local residue streams, companies reduce reliance on fossil resources, improve resource efficiency, and lower their carbon footprint. Developing lignin- and sugar-based bio-aromatics offers both economic and sustainability advantages, while opening opportunities for innovation in high-performance, circular materials.

Lignin-Derived Bio-aromatics

Lignin is an abundant, renewable feedstock that contains the necessary building blocks to create biobased, functional, and safer alternatives to traditional aromatics. However, lignin’s complex structure requires advanced processing.

That’s where VITO’s LignoValue Pilot Plant comes in — a state-of-the-art industrial-scale platform that enables companies to:

• Upscale lignin-based innovations
• Develop real-world applications
• Test performance under industrial conditions

Sugar-Derived Bio-Aromatics

There is a world-wide abundancy of residual sugars that are not valorized to their full economical and chemical potential. These residual sugars are excellent feedstock for versatile platform molecule furfural. Furfural is widely recognized as the basis for a broad portfolio of biobased chemical building blocks that have to potential to make our day-to-day applications more sustainable, safer and better performing.

With it’s expertise, know-how and pilot facilities, TNO develops and enables the scalable production of drop-in and novel sugar-derived chemical building blocks by:

• Development of scalable production technologies for biobased drop-ins (e.g. maleic anhydride, phenol, adipic acid, etc.)
• Application focused development of novel biobased building blocks, prioritizing agility and scalability (e.g. for polyesters, surfactants,  coatings and adhesive applications)

Agenda

The agenda will be communicated in due time.

Register

Join us to learn how your company can be part of this cutting-edge transition to sustainable chemistry. Register on the Pitch Perfect and Boost the European Bioeconomy 2025 website. In the registration form you can indicate whether you want to join the Bioaromatics on the Rise satellite event.

> Register now

 

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Biorizon is a shared research center on bioaromitics initiated by VITO and TNO.