The innovation company of Metsa Group, Metsa Spring, and Valmet, have started a joint project for the development of a novel 3D product based on wood to replace similar products made from fossil resources, especially in consumer products such as packaging.
The joint project focuses on the setting properties of the new eco-friendly material and the development of a highly automated and digitized manufacturing technology. The use of current industrial side streams of the Metsä Group as feedstock for the new product will also be evaluated. The aim of the project is to jointly analyze the technical and economic performance of the new concept and assess the prerequisites to build, in a possible next phase, a pilot plant integrated into existing pulp or board production in Finland.
“Our new product would be high quality, safe, easy to recycle and based on renewable northern wood grown sustainably. If material recycling, for whatever reason, is not an option, the product is also biodegradable. Furthermore, their manufacture would be completely fossil-free, ”says Jarkko Tuominen, project manager at Metsä Spring.
“Valmet is firmly committed to developing solutions that support sustainability. As a technology leader, we are in a first-class position to use our existing technology and unique product development capabilities to the benefit of projects like this one, ”says Petri Rasinmäki, Head of the Paper and Board Machine Technology Unit at Valmet. . The commissioning of a possible pilot plant could take place in 2021. If the pilot plant phase shows that the concept is viable, then the next step would be to build a first commercial manufacturing line in the next few years.
