Alder Bioinsights News Review: Feedstocks, June 2025

Foreword

In an era characterized by the pressing need for sustainable solutions, new opportunities are being identified for materials once considered merely by-products, residues or even waste. Research is increasingly intent on making these once-discarded resources vital components of a circular economy focused on maximizing resource efficiency.

The textile industry, long a symbol of our linear “take-make-dispose” economy, requires a reform to introduce circularity in production by investing in research. As highlighted in Nature Communications, a novel process of sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis offers a viable solution to the ever-growing mountain of polycotton waste. This chemical recycling pathway first uses acid hydrolysis to selectively break down the cotton’s cellulose into glucose—a versatile bio-based feedstock—while leaving the polyester fibres intact for conventional recycling. This dual-stream approach is a pivotal step towards a circular fashion industry.

The biofuels sector is also embracing the potential of waste-derived feedstocks through advanced thermal and catalytic processes. In Brazil, the Riograndense Refinery, in partnership with Petrobras, is pioneering the production of cellulosic-content fuels by co-processing non-food biomass pyrolysis oil within a traditional fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit…