Metsä Fibre’s Biomotive project aims to develop biomaterials and textile fibers to be used in car parts and vehicle seating, respectively. The company’s LigniOx project uses technology developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to separate wood-based from the black liquor generated in pulp production. Both LigniOx and Biomotive are four-year projects that have received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Bio-Based Industries public-private partnership.
“Operating within the EU’s research and development networks demand perseverance and world-class competencies,” Niklas von Weymarn, vice president, Research at Metsä Fibre, tells Fibre2Fashion. “The EU funding now granted to us is a clear indication of the high quality of Metsä Fibre’s research and development activities and the new concepts. It also indicates their relevance in respect to finding solutions that help mitigating some of the greatest challenges facing society, such as population growth and resource scarcity,”
Metsä recently started up a bioproducts plant at Äänekoski, Finland, and is planning a biocomposite demonstration plant at its Rauma pulp mill later this autumn.