The BDC 2023 Fall Forum featured a strong Swedish bioeconomy presence from industry leaders like Valmet, Lignin Industries, FineCell Sweden, Head Engineering and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The Biorenewable Development Consortium includes some of the worlds leading companies working in the forestry sector with a focus on biofuels, biochemicals and other byproducts that increase the value extracted from every tree. GTI attended the BDC 2023 Fall Forum in Boston to network with some of the largest pulp and paper companies from Sweden and the United States.

Swedish company Valmet Sweden presented their lignin extraction technology solution, LignoBoost®. Lignin is the natural glue that holds the cellulose fibers together in most plants including tree wood. Lignin is now becoming a valuable and renewable raw material used in bio-based alternatives to fossil-based materials. Sweden, and specifically Valmet, is a world leader in technology to recover and utilize lignin from the pulping process to produce biochemicals, bio-based plastics and biofuels. Valmet’s developments demonstrate how pulping mills to create valuable and renewable revenue streams while also as boosting the efficiency of their operations.

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden gave an impressive introduction into a new bioeconomy ecosystem initiative: the RISE Bioeconomy Arena. With an investment of SEK 350 million across two years from the Swedish government, RISE is strengthening its testbeds for developing new products and solutions based on refining a variety of biomasses. The initiative is directing research towards chemical conversion, lignin-based materials, wastewater management, electrochemistry and the capture and use of carbon dioxide (CCU and CCS).

Lastly, FineCell Sweden presented new mechanisms for producing dry dispersible nanocellulose. The new material is used to produce bio-based alternatives to fossil-fuel based plastics, cosmetics and paints. And finally, Head Engineering presented its patented BLiSS (Black Liquor Soap Seperation) system which will be installed at Green Bay Packaging mill in the USA, using Alfa Laval equipment, instrumentation and control systems.

Overall, the BDC Forum displayed a range of Swedish innovations leading the emerging Bioeconomy, enabling the larger Green Transition.