About us
Who we are
At Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR), the division Biobased Products is involved in strategic and applied-scientific research. Our contract partners can be found, among others, in the food-, chemical-, pharmaceutical-, paper and board-, and automotive industry, industries manufacturing building materials, retailers, auctions, transport companies, the European Commission, UN-organisations, and national authorities.Biobased Products of Wageningen UR has a great variety of research facilities and equipment that ranges from lab-scale to pilot-scale. As a result we are able to optimise technologies and products, and to offer tailor-made solutions to industries.
What we do
Fibres are the most important constructive elements in plants and a very important inexhaustible resource for use in a wide variety of industrial products. Traditional fibre crops such as flax, hemp, jute, cotton, coir (coconut), sisal, kenaf, and kapok find application in consumer products from specialty paper and tissues to composite materials, building materials, ropes, yarns and textiles.
Research and development on fibre crops is carried out in a multi-disciplinary research team in cooperation with industries for innovation in processing and creation of new products. We are involved in industrial innovation, product and process development based upon cellulose fibres, and have knowledge of the whole production chain from agricultural production and fibre extraction to the quality demands of end-products.
Plant fibres are found in a wide range of qualities that are determining their suitability for certain application areas. This requires matching of fibre properties to price/performance of endproducts. The multidisciplinary knowledge of structural morphology, chemical composition, and physical properties of fibres makes improvement in fibre production processes and technological innovations possible.
Other fibre-related research activities of Biobased Products-Wageningen UR:
