Swedish Processum to lead major nanocellulose project

The Swedish company Processum has announced an 8 million Swedish Krona nanocellulose project which will develop new applications such as the test bed TinyBTalented on a large scale over the next four years. The project will focus mainly on the development and production of crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) and is intended to be completed in the year 2020. Processum will lead the project with other participants including,  Holmen, Melodea, Mid Sweden University, MoRe Research, Organofuel, RISE Chemistry, Materials and Surfaces as well as S2Medical, SEKAB E-Technology, Tetra Pak, and Vinnova. 

According to Pulpaper News, "participants will either together or separately be working with four application areas. These are: CNC in flat shaped materials, in wound dressings, as strength additive in multi-layer materials and for functionalization of gas and fluid barriers". 

Currently,  a CNC pilot plant is being built in Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden. The pilot plant is the first of its kind in Europe and is an important step in the project's production plan. 

Vinnova's Moa Eklund explained, “The establishment of the test bed TinyBTalented for nanocrystalline cellulose enables upscaling of techniques, accelerates development of applications and is considered having a good potential to replace a number of fossil products with new materials based on CNC. The plant which is being built is also a complement to already established infrastructure within the biorefinery area in Örnsköldsvik, making it possible to create synergies and the test bed reinforces the partners' test and demo offers."