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Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre has announced a new initiative to solve problems related to energy and resource consumption in the forestry and textile industry. The Energy First initiative aims to be the starting point for entirely new technologies that set the conditions for the production of low-carbon, energy-efficient and recyclable fibre-based products. VTT foresees a major shift from traditional plastic-containing products to cellulose-based products in nonwovens, such as those used in napkins and wipes.
The initiative, with a budget of around 20 million euros over the next four years, will consist of several projects and will include the installation of a new innovative, open-access pilot line in Jyväskylä, Finland. The aim of the collaboration is to develop and test commercially viable, sustainable alternatives to cardboard packaging, hygiene products and nonwovens.
“This new initiative is a pivotal step towards more sustainable and competitive fiber-based products and has the potential to have a major impact thanks to our more than 50 industrial partners. We are excited by the prospect of one-to-one commercial projects with companies driving innovations in energy-efficient board production,” says Ate Virtanen, Vice President Biomaterial Processing and Products at VTT.
Products made with this new technology are designed to be compatible with current recycling systems. Additionally, fiber-based packaging is produced in a way that makes it a more sustainable option than reusable packaging. The proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Regulation will require both raw materials and manufacturing processes to be sustainable, and recyclable bio-based packaging solutions will have to pass a sustainability audit.
In addition to reducing water and energy consumption, the project aims to redefine the environmental impact of forestry and make textile products more competitive: for example, by making products lighter, more consumer goods can be produced from the same amount of wood, improving resource efficiency.
