ExpandFibre

👕 Telavalue project explored diverse topics aimed at building value chains for more sustainable production, use and cycles of textiles 👕Telavalue project (Value chains for sustainable production, use and cycles of textiles) was a two and a half year Business Finland Co-Innovation project that officially ended in July 2024. The public research project, with a total budget of EUR 1.8 million, was coordinated by VTT together with LAB University of Applied Sciences and Turku University of Applied Sciences. The Telavalue consortium hosted in total 17 company partners of whom six had parallel company projects. In summary, the Telavalue project generated new sustainable material and process solutions, as well as business model expertise that will provide competitive advantage for the Finnish industry, leading to new and increased business in the international markets for Finnish companies. Read here the reflections by Telavalue project coordinator Pirjo Heikkilä, Principal Scientist and Project Manager at VTT, in addition to company representatives from the Telavalue consortium Ulla Reiman, Manufacturing R&D Manager at Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions Oy, and Katariina Kemppainen, SVP, Group R&D at Metsä Spring: 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/dPUUm7ye 📷: Telavalue #expandfibre #project #bioeconomy #textiles #circulareconomy

🍃 BioProt project set out to develop novel bio-based solutions as future alternatives for safe and sustainable personal protection 👉🏽 Read the story here: https://lnkd.in/dBpQF6y6 🍃Co-funded by Business Finland, the BioProt project (Development of bio-based and antimicrobial nonwoven materials and use as protective equipment) brought together six leading Finnish universities and research institutes, four companies with their own parallel projects as well as five in-kind project partners to develop high-quality, safe and sustainable face masks triggered by the dramatic increase in the need of personal protection equipment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 🍃The overarching goals of the BioProt consortium were to seek for more sustainable and renewable bio-based solutions for face masks, in addition to exploring most feasible future pathways for alleviating Europe’s underlying heavy reliance on imported personal protection equipment from countries such as China. 🍃Big thanks to project participants for their insights: Krista Koljonen, Susanna Tella, Satu Salo, Tuomas Kiikka, Pasi Virtanen, Mira Juutilainen and Janette Mäkipää. #expandfibre #ecosystem #programmes #circulareconomy #bioeconomy #sustainable #facemasks

🍃 NUMOBIO project set out to accomplish substantial leaps in digitalising biocomposite design for optimised development of new materials and products 🍃 Business Finland funded two-year NUMOBIO project (Advanced NUmerical MOdelling for rapid development of BIOcomposite applications) ran from August 2021 until end of 2023, exploring important topics related to the modelling and testing of natural-fibre reinforced composite materials, also known as biocomposites. Some of the key outcomes of the project included a substantial set of experimental data on biocomposites collected from industrial use cases within the NUMOBIO consortium, and a successful demonstration of individual fibre testing for short wood-pulp fibre strength and fibre-matrix adhesion. 🍃 NUMOBIO project’s key research partners Tuukka Verho, Researcher at VTT, Pasi Kallio, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology at Tampere University, and Essi Sarlin, Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University were joined by Kirsi Hirvonen, Development Manager at Metsä Fibre, to reflect on the concluded project and its primary outcomes. Read about them here: https://lnkd.in/gaeDGH7X 📷 : VTT #expandfibre #biocomposites #circulareconomy #fibres #project #bioeconomy

🍃 Led by the University of Oulu, a consortium of Finnish research organisations has launched a two-year COCOBIN project together with different companies, creating a strong link for Metsä Group and ExpandFibre to the initiative. Together, the project partners aim to develop bio-based coating dispersions, binders and adhesives for fibre-based packaging, nonwovens and abrasive materials. The project, partly funded by Business Finland, has a total budget of €8.7 million and involves 15 different organizations. We talked to Professor Henrikki Liimatainen from University of Oulu about this interesting research project that has just kicked off. 🍃 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dgdNngw4 📷: Outer birch bark of suberin (by Pekka Saranpää, LUKE) #expandfibre #researchproject #suberin #sustainability #circulareconomy #fibres #packagingsolutions

🍃 Introducing the SciSustain project within the ExpandFibre Ecosystem 🍃 🍃Read here our discussion with Luana Dessbesell, the Assistant Professor of Sustainable Bioproduct Innovation at Aalto University. She is leading the newly launched Science Translation Framework for Sustainable Bioproducts Innovation project (SciSustain). https://lnkd.in/dMMGUcZc 🍃SciSustain, is a multidisciplinary research project coordinated by Aalto University together with seven industrial partners which aims to assist in translating scientific findings in the field of sustainability of bio-based packaging innovations, thus helping to improve and accelerate the implementation solutions that mitigate climate change. Launched in June 2024, the two-year project is an €1.3 million project funded by Business Finland, linked both with Valmet’s Beyond Circularity Veturi programme and ExpandFibre Ecosystem. #expandfibreproject #expandfibre #bioeconomy #circulareconomy #biobased #packaging

🍃 CELLIGHT project aims to develop more sustainable cellulose-based alternatives as functional ingredients for paints, cosmetics and coatings Read our insightful discussion with Research Scientist Muhammad MUJTABA (Ph.D.) from VTT here: https://lnkd.in/d2BwPhaQ 🍃 Coordinated by VTT in close collaboration with Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, an exciting two-year Business Finland funded co-research project has been launched to develop and explore the application potential of cellulose-based opacifiers and whitening agents across multiple industries. The CELLIGHT project envisions replacing titanium dioxide (TiO2) with novel cellulose-based alternatives, taking significant first steps towards greener and more sustainable solutions in opacifiers. Five industrial partners complete the CELLIGHT consortium, which are Metsä Spring Oy, Nouryon, PPG Tikkurila, Nordic Bioproducts Group Ltd, and Wetend Technologies Ltd. #expandfibre #coatings #circulareconomy #bioeconomy #projectnews

🍃 The next part of the ExpandFibre journey has started with the ExpandFibre Transition Phase led by Metsä Group 🍃 🍃The 4-year ExpandFibre programme officially ended in August 2024, initiating the next chapter in the story of ExpandFibre. From September 2024 onwards, ExpandFibre has started a new Transition Phase, hosted by Metsä Group, to continue the programme’s commitment towards accelerating the development of sustainable bioproducts. Katariina Kemppainen, SVP, Group R&D, Metsä Spring, will remain in her role as the Programme Manager of ExpandFibre. 🍃Read more about the Transition Phase here: https://lnkd.in/ghAc-z_G #expandfibre #bioeconomy #circulareconomy #bioproducts #programme #collaboration

👚 Circular economy through use of textile waste: Vilikkala joins ExpandFibre Ecosystem as the 103rd member 🍃 ExpandFibre had the pleasure to talk to VILIKKALA’s Jari Toivonen who shed light into the future business plans of this company which implements the circular economy ambitions of other companies related to textile waste.  🍃Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/duTBAxGG #expandfibre #ecosystem #textilewaste #circulareconomy #bioeconomy

🌿 The 4-year ExpandFibre journey was celebrated with the final Public Seminar event on August 19th 2024🌿 🌿Approximately 100 people were in attendance onsite at Metsä Group HQ in Espoo, Finland, with additional 50-100 participants following the day’s sessions remotely via event stream. The all-day event presented highlights from the participating Veturi companies within Fortum and Metsä Group, insightful commentary from funding agency Business Finland as well as presentations on various topics covered by the ExpandFibre Ecosystem partners. A panel discussion with fellow Veturi programme leaders provided additional interest to the day’s agenda. Initial plans for the next phase of ExpandFibre were also presented in the event. 🌿ExpandFibre team thanks everyone attending the event onsite at Metsä Group HQ, as well as following the sessions remotely via the event stream. Read more about the event here: https://lnkd.in/gYhvMubn #expandfibre #bioeconomy #circulareconomy #seminar Business Finland

🌲ExpandFibre Final seminar in Espoo has just kicked off today on the 19th August! This event has brought together more than 100 ExpandFibre enthusiasts and members of this vibrant Ecosystem and Programmes onsite at Metsä Group headquarters. Online, we also have close to 100 registered participants! 🍃 During the day, we will get snapshots of finished and recently started projects, hear about concrete results, have a panel discussion and much more – all telling the story of this active collaboration which has been running for four and a half years. Together, we have truly accelerated the development of sustainable bioproducts. Here are some key numbers of our achievements: ✅ Ecosystem members: 103 member organisations including 84 Finnish members & 19 international members ✅ Projects: 30 ✅ Stories shared on website: 120   We are looking forward to a great event where we look back at this exciting journey of ExpandFibre! Metsä Group Fortum Business Finland #expandfibre #ecosystem #sustanablebioproducts #bioeconomy #circulareconomy