Enzymes in the Pulp and Paper Industry, 2000 Pulping / Process & Product Quality Conference Proceedings

L. Viikari--Enzymes have significant potential for improving traditional pulp and paper manufacturing processes, due to their specificity and environmental benefits. In spite of the promise of biocatalysts and their commercial succes in other fields, such as food and textile industries, the use of biocatalysts in the forest sector has increased only slowly. The general goals of pulp and paper industry today are to increase the cost efficiency, to develop environmentally benign processes and to improve the product quality. Biotechnical methods can help to reach these goals, but seldom solve problems alone. The modifications in fibre material, which can be achieved by enzymes, have so far been always combined with chemical or mechanical treatments. The real challenge for new commercial successes is to identify new enzymes and their potential applications. Due to the advances in biotechnical methodologies and production techniques, many of the most potential biocatalysts have already been isolated and tested in different applications in laboratory scale. In many applications, however, the identified enzymes represent products of the first generation, and may not act optimally under the harsh industrial conditions. Advances in genetic engineering allow improvements both in catalytic activity, stability and production technologies of the potential enzymes.