Kemira is to participate in the development of 100% bio-based chemicals for paper and cardboard production as part of an EU funded project.
The company has joined a four-year scheme which aims to develop 100% bio- based chemicals, produced from renewable raw materials.
In addition, the project aims to develop new means to improve production efficiency at pulp mills with higher use of wood biomass.
The project started in May 2019 and has received EUR 5.9m funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The total budget of the project is EUR 9.6m and it is one of several undertakings aimed at developing a sustainable bio-based industry sector in Europe.
During the four-year project, Kemira and other project members will conduct demonstration-scale trial runs at a dissolving pulp mill in Europe.
Biotechnology company Ecohelix will provide and operate the demonstration unit and Kemira’s role is to assess the technical and economic feasibility of the bio-based offerings produced in the project.
The aim is to develop fully bio-based polymeric chemistries for paper and cardboard production to complement and even replace polymers that are derived from petroleum.
