On Wednesday 4 March, representatives from 22 organizations met at the Tech Park in Delft for the official start of the biobased asphalt cooperation program. The name of the program is CHAPLIN. That stands for ‘Collaboration in aspHalt Applications with LIgniN’. The cooperation aims to stimulate the development and commercialization of lignin-containing asphalt, thereby contributing to the greening of the road construction industry and thus reducing CO2 emissions. The first project is already running: CHAPLIN TKI. This project aims to develop lignin-based asphalt into TRL 6, which also tests Dutch lignin. A lignin modification is applied with which superior properties for, among other things, ZOAB (Road safety and drainage asphalt)  can be realized.

Biorizon is on its way to the mission: the commercial production of bio-aromatics in 2025, said Ludo Diels, chairman of Biorizon's advisory board, during the well-attended Biorizon Annual Event at the end of November in Antwerp.

The Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy (CoE-BBE) of the Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences Avans and HZ wants to collaborate more closely with the Flemish Ghent University of Applied Sciences (HOGENT). This may lead to an International Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy.