The joint project targets on fine-tuning properties of the new eco-friendly material to develop an automated and digitalised manufacturing technology
Metsä Spring and Valmet to develop a new wood-based product to replace fossil-based materials. (Credit: METSÄ GROUP)
Metsä Spring has collaborated with Finnish automation technology services provider Valmet to develop a new wood-based product as an alternative to fossil-based materials.
The collaboration will develop a novel wood-based 3D product which replaces the similar products made out of fossil resources, mainly in consumer products like the packaging.
The joint project targets on fine-tuning properties of the new eco-friendly material to develop an automated and digitalised manufacturing technology.
Metsä Spring project lead Jarkko Tuominen said: “Our new product would be of high quality, safe, easily recycled and based on sustainably grown, renewable Northern wood.
“Should material recycling, for some reason, not be an option, the product is also biodegradable.
“Moreover, its manufacturing would be fully fossil-free. We aim at large scale market segments, and our ambition level is high.”
The new product will also be evaluated using the present industrial side streams of Metsä Group as the raw material.
The project to evaluate the technical and economic performance of the new concept
The new project aims to jointly analyse the technical and economic performance of the new model. It also aims to assess the prerequisites to build, in a potential next phase, a pilot facility which will be combined with the current pulp or board production in Finland.
Valmet board and paper machines technology unit head Petri Rasinmäki said: “Valmet is strongly committed to the development of solutions that support sustainability.
“As a technology leader, we are in a first-class position to utilise our existing, unique technology and product development capabilities for the benefit of projects like this.”
If the pilot plant phase proofs the concept feasible, the new manufacturing facility is expected to begin next year.
Established in the spring of 2018, Metsä Spring is the venture capital arm of Metsä Group, a producer of renewable products from northern forests that replace the use of fossil raw materials.
In November last year, Valmet signed an agreement with Metsä Board to supply key technology for the proposed renovation of the Husum pulp mill in Sweden.