Project: Sylfeed

Launched in 2017, the objective of the European project SYLFEED is to demonstrate a new integrated value chain “from forest to feed”, offering both a sustainable solution to the growing global challenges of food and feed production and new economic development opportunities for forestry regions rich in biomass.

Thanks to the ARBIOM lignocellulose fractionation technology, forestry materials are converted into genuinely sustainable foodstuff raw materials with a high protein content, for human nutrition and animal feed.

While the European protein deficiency is a major strategic issue (Europe is 70% dependent on protein imports for animal feed), Project SYLFEED will contribute to the industrialisation of an original solution “from forest to feed”. The process consists of using microorganisms to convert non-food pre-treated plant biomass (sugars) into a protein-rich ingredient for animal feed.

Project SYLFEED validated the Arbiom technology for the construction of its first commercial unit.

Project SYLFEED brings together 10 European operators and covers all key stages in the value chain:

• Biomass supply by Norske Skog Golbey, one of the market leaders in newsprint paper production in Europe
• Fractionation of the biomass and conversion into a protein-rich ingredient by ARBIOM
• Technology upscaling by Arbiom with BPF (Bioprocess Pilot Facility, Netherlands) and BBEU (Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Belgium)
• Production and process expertise from the Belgian company Prayon, the global market leader in phosphoric acid
• Unicellular protein expertise from the Swedish research institute RISE Processum
• Formulation of aquaculture feed and testing by Matis, the Icelandic research institute
• Exhaustive life cycle analysis by the Norwegian institute NORSUS
• Final product validation by Laxa (Iceland) and Skretting (Norway), the global market leader in aquaculture feed

Project SYLFEED is based on years of development and collaboration by the partners. ARBIOM and Norske Skog Golbey have notably already collaborated on a feasibility study for a biorefinery project that received support from the Grand Est region and the EU fund FEDER.