New agreement with Lucart for joint management of a patent
The IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca and Lucart S.p.A., a multinational group that promotes sustainable paper production, recently signed an agreement for the joint 50% management of intellectual property regarding a patent application and for the future exploitation of research results. The initiative is part of the programmes promoted by the PNRR funds, aimed at strengthening innovative doctoral programmes and supporting the digital and ecological transition.
The agreement, which demonstrates the IMT School's commitment to technology transfer activities in the local area, stems from a collaboration that began in June 2022, when Lucart contributed to the co-financing of a doctoral scholarship as part of the IMT School's Doctorate in Management of Digital Transformation, coordinated by Professor Marco Paggi, Professor of Structural Engineering, Director of the MUSAM research unit and the MUSAM-Lab experimental laboratory, and Vice-Rector.
Francesco Pasquini, CEO of Lucart SpA, commented:
"For Lucart, sustainability is not an abstract goal, but an industrial process involving innovation and investment. The collaboration with the IMT School and the joint management of the patent demonstrate how research and business can generate concrete solutions for one of the most complex challenges in recycling: the valorisation of paper mill sludge. Our commitment is to transform what is currently waste into a safe and usable resource, contributing to the creation of an increasingly comprehensive recycling chain".
The doctoral scholarship was awarded to Alice Bertolini, a doctoral student at the IMT School, under the supervision of Professor Marco Paggi, with the aim of developing new technological solutions for the valorisation of paper mill sludge generated by mechanical separation, the main waste product of recycled paper production. During her PhD, Alice Bertolini developed new methods for the recovery of paper mill sludge through experimental and modelling research conducted at the MUSAM-Lab. In addition to the scientific results currently being published, the research has led to the identification of an application deemed worthy of an Italian patent application, with Alice Bertolini and Marco Paggi as inventors for the IMT School and engineer Maurizio Giordano for Lucart S.p.A.
Marco Paggi, Vice Rector of the IMT School, commented:
"This agreement is the result of a virtuous collaboration between universities and businesses that the IMT School launched in 2022 thanks to the PNRR, involving small, medium and large companies in the paper, shipbuilding, fashion, energy and pharmaceutical sectors in doctoral programmes. Thanks to Lucart, advanced training and research on materials at the IMT School have been able to address the challenging issue of paper mill sludge recovery. The results achieved so far are very promising in terms of technological innovation for the local area and the environment. We will continue in this direction together with Lucart to develop a complete recycling chain in the paper industry".
Paper mill sludge consists mainly of mineral fillers and cellulose fibres that are too short for further processing and represents a waste stream of approximately 40,000 tonnes per year. Its industrial recovery is particularly complex under the current regulatory framework, as it must be managed as waste. The IMT School's research therefore aimed to study innovative technological solutions capable of transforming this waste into new products with potential market prospects, in full compliance with current regulations, the required physical-chemical performance and environmental protection.
The IMT School and Lucart SpA have also committed to collaborating in the subsequent phases of industrial development to create a complete recycling chain in the paper industry, with a view to promoting a circular economy, from separate waste collection to the reuse of paper mill sludge for new market applications that are safe and environmentally sustainable.