Creating sustainability solutions
and economic opportunities
Collaboration leads to development of new art paper for market
A collaboration between WIST, the UW-Stevens Point Department of Art & Design and the UW-Stevens Point Department of Paper Science & Engineering has produced a new art paper for sale. 
The 100 percent cotton paper provides an economical choice in an archival art paper for a wide range of drawing and printmaking applications. Read more about the paper and access an order form by clicking here.
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WIST researchers granted patent
The patent protects the invention of an economically viable method to separate biomass into its constituent lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The cellulose can be converted to sugars to make cellulosic biofuels: sustainably sourced fuels that don't impact the food supply. The process has been proven at pilot scale and WIST seeks partners to commercialize the technology. Other techniques exist to separate lignin from cellulose and have long been used in the paper industry. However, these processes result in cellulose that contains inhibitors that make it more difficult to convert it to sugars. Similarly, the lignin produced contains additional chemicals not easily or economically separated. Paper mills may license the WIST process to capture a new revenue source in their operations.
WSAW Channel 7 in Wausau featured the news on the patent in this story Friday, July 20. A number of energy- and business-related publications, such as Biofuels Journal, also picked up the story.