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Aalto University’s SciSustain project accelerates the journey of packaging material and technology innovations from idea to market. The initiative is driven by the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which speeds up the transition toward biodegradable packaging solutions.

The project brings together leading forest industry companies Metsä Group, Stora Enso, and UPM, as well as innovative technology startups Boreal Bioproducts, LignEasy, and Paptic. Valmet contributes large-scale process expertise and experience in commissioning industrial plants and pilot facilities.

“Bio-based innovations hold enormous potential, but they are often considered too risky. That’s why risks must be measured, understood, and defined. We are developing tools and assessment methods that help identify bottlenecks, development targets and timelines for early-stage inventions to achieve competitiveness,” says the project’s principal investigator (PI) and leader, assistant professor Luana Dessbesell from Aalto University’s Bioinnovation Center.

“This project is highly significant for Finland’s forest industry, where bio-based innovations are at the very core. To stay competitive, we must understand the long-term benefits these innovations can bring. Academic collaboration is one of the key drivers of industrial renewal,” adds Janak Sapkota, Senior Manager, R&D Materials and Composites at UPM.

The four-year project began in summer 2024 and is funded by Business Finland and participating companies for the first two years, and the Bioinnovation Center for the remaining two years. It is part of Valmet’s Beyond Circularity Leading Company program, which develops solutions to accelerate the green transition in industry.

“SciSustain provides us with a unique perspective on how bio-based processes can be scaled up to industrial levels from a holistic sustainability standpoint,” says Virpi Puhakka, Ecosystem Director at Valmet.

“Such an ambitious project is only possible thanks to the built-in collaborative and multidisciplinary culture of Aalto University. SciSustain is supported by a network of experts from Aalto such as Professors Jouni Paltakari, Michael Hummel, Kirsi Niinimäki and Samuli Patala, to name a few”, emphasizes Luana Dessbesell.

Industry collaboration brings a “reality check” to development

Case studies act as crucial reality checks, ensuring that ideas emerging from the lab can withstand industrial constraints and meet regulatory requirements.

The studies cover the entire value chain of the packaging industry from raw materials to recycling. They include cellulose-based alternatives to cellophane, carbon-based flexible food films, and new recycling solutions for multi-layer beverage cartons.

For example, Valmet is developing biomass pretreatment technology that enables the use of the material for producing biofuels, cellulose, or coating materials.

Boreal Bioproducts aims to commercialize fractionated and refined spruce-based hemicellulose, lignin, and bark tannins, and to build its first commercial production facility by the end of 2027.

“SciSustain gives us a valuable opportunity to enrich our biorefinery’s LCA modeling and to gain insights into investment costs at different scales,” says Jaakko Pajunen, CEO of Boreal Bioproducts.

The decision-making tools and metrics developed in the project will support the advancement of breakthrough technologies from a sustainability perspective, linking economic viability, environmental impact, and social sustainability within a unified assessment framework.

“With this new framework, researchers, industrial partners, and policymakers can accelerate the transition from idea to market. For example, building a biorefinery or commercializing a new product—which today can take up to 20 years—could be achieved in 10 to 15 years using our tools,” Dessbesell explains.

One of the project’s key new approaches is applying life cycle assessment (LCA) to early-stage technologies.

International partners broaden perspectives

The market potential for bio-based packaging materials is vast, with production expected to double by 2030. At the same time, challenges remain tangible: higher costs, scale-up hurdles, biomass variability, and regionally diverse regulations.

SciSustain’s international partners bring deep expertise to the project. In Canada, the focus is on developing KPI performance indicators and designing the evaluation framework, while the United States contributes advanced LCA modeling expertise.

In Brazil, the project collaborates with the University of São Paulo with visits to several dowstream packaging value chain actors. In Brazil, manufacturers are responsible for product collection and recycling, which directly influences the design of solutions.

“My doctoral student is currently in Brazil, interviewing waste collectors and analyzing the collection network through social life-cycle assessment. Regional differences greatly affect how innovations and sustainability goals materialize in different markets. Large companies therefore need to adapt their products to multiple, sometimes conflicting, regulatory environments,” Dessbesell notes.

The SciSustain project involves several master’s and doctoral students. Startups offer targeted short-term projects for master’s students, while large industrial companies mentor doctoral researchers and enable international research exchanges.

Text: Marjukka Puolakka