Metsä Group establishes an innovation company and plans to build a demo plant in Äänekoski, Finland for the production of textile fibres

Metsä Group has established a new innovation company, Metsä Spring Ltd. The company will, together with partner organisations, invest in new endeavours with the target to identify and develop new business opportunities in sustainable forest-based bioeconomy and circular economy. Niklas von Weymarn has been appointed CEO of the company. He transfers to Metsä Spring from the position of VP, Research in Metsä Fibre, also part of Metsä Group. The office of Metsä Spring is in the heart of the internationally-acknowledged Otaniemi innovation campus in Espoo, Finland. The establishment of the new innovation company does not affect the current research and development activities of Metsä Group’s current business areas.

”With the establishment of Metsä Spring, we want to create a new dimension to Metsä Group’s innovation activities and thereby participate more actively in the development of new business concepts in forest-based bioeconomy and circular economy. A large share of new ideas are generated outside our company and the new business concepts are increasingly developed in novel partnerships. The new innovation company enables Metsä Group to better take part in this activity,” says Metsä Group’s President and CEO and Metsä Spring’s Chairman of the Board Ilkka Hämälä.

The first concept to be included into Metsä Spring’s portfolio is the new textile fibre production method developed by Metsä Fibre. Now Metsä Spring is planning a greenfield demo plant with the capacity of about 500 tonnes of staple fibre per year. The planning is based on the idea that the demo plant will be integrated to Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski. The planning work is done by an international team and the investment decision is expected by the end of this year.

The current ways to produce textile fibres are typically burdened by a notable environmental footprint and the textile market is thus seeking new, more sustainable alternatives. The environmentally-friendly production method developed by Metsä Group is based on direct dissolution using novel compounds for the pulp dissolution stage. In contrary to the methods used commercially today, Metsä Group’s method relies on wet paper-grade pulp as the raw material.

“It is important to develop new bioproducts that expand the current product portfolio of the forest industry. Textile fibre is a very potential product and a natural first project for Metsä Spring. The company wants to be an active and respected player in developing new business concepts for various stages of the forest-based value chains,” says CEO Niklas von Weymarn.
https://www.metsagroup.com/en/media/all-news/Pages/News.aspx?EncryptedId=DD81F0D646247698&Title=MetsaGroupestablishesaninnovationcompanyandplanstobuildademoplantinAanekoski,Finlandfortheproductionoftextilefibres

Related Posts

Nine Dragons Paper Announces FY2020 Annual Results

Nine Dragons Paper Limited is pleased to announce the audited consolidated annual results of the Company and its subsidiaries for the twelve months ended 30 June 2020. * Record high sales volume; a year-on-year increase of 8.5% to approximately 15.3 million tonnes * Net profit1 was RMB 4.2 billion; a year-on-year increase of 7.5% * Gross profit margin of 17.6%, a year-on-year increase of 2.0 percentage points * Net profit margin of 8.1%; a year-on-year increase of 1.0 percentage point

Tembec Announces Preliminary Results of Consideration Elections in Connection with Transaction

Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, Tembec shareholders had the right to elect to receive either C$4.75 in cash or 0.2542 shares of Rayonier AM common stock per Tembec Share, subject to proration so that approximately 67% of the aggregate consideration is paid in cash and approximately 33% is paid in Rayonier AM common stock. The results of the elections received prior to the election deadline of 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on November 9, 2017 are as follows: •Shareholders representing 1,644,879 Tembec Shares elected to receive the Per Share Cash Amount; •Shareholders representing 67,878,518 Tembec Shares elected to receive the Per Share Stock Consideration; and •Shareholders representing 30,476,603 Tembec Shares did not make an election. Since the aggregate number of Tembec Shares in respect of which registered Tembec shareholders have elected to receive the Per Share Cash Amount is less than the Cash Consideration Number (as defined in the plan of arrangement attached to the amending agreement dated as of July 23, 2017 by and between Rayonier AM and Tembec), holders of Tembec Shares who elected to receive the Per Share Stock Consideration will be subject to proration in the manner described in Tembec's management information circular dated June 13, 2017 (the "Circular"). Click Read More below for additional information.

ND Paper Rumford Division Further Expanding into Packaging Grades

To ensure a viable, profitable future for the Rumford Division, ND Paper will be transforming the mill to increase its product flexibility and shift further into packaging grades. Notable changes include: • Commissioning of an unbleached recycled pulp line to provide fiber flexibility to the R12 and R15 paper machines • Conversion of its R15 paper machine from P&W papers into lightweight, high strength kraft linerboard products • Expansion of R12 paper machine capability to include unbleached recycled bag and converting papers, in addition to its current offering of bleached and unbleached papers • Continued operation of the R9 pulp dryer, including expansion into unbleached softwood kraft market pulp • Permanent curtailment of mechanical pulping operations and R15 coating and supercalender assets
Back To Top
×Close search
Search