Finland – VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, LUT University, and companies have opened a pilot plant in Espoo, Finland, to process captured carbon dioxide into compounds that can replace fossil raw materials in plastic products and chemicals. The pilot plant, built in sea containers, started operations in August.

Finland wants to utilise bio-based carbon capture as one way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Forest CUMP research project of VTT and LUT University has investigated how bio-based carbon dioxide from, for example, the forest industry and waste incineration can be captured and converted into high-value products such as polypropylene and polyethylene. The promising results will now be put into practice.

‘Finland has huge potential to be one of the leading countries in utilising bio-based carbon dioxide,” says Juha Lehtonen, Research Professor at VTT. ‘Finland produces around 30 million tonnes of bio-based carbon dioxide per year. If captured and converted into products, Finland could become a major producer and exporter of polymers and transport fuels made from carbon dioxide and hydrogen.’

The Forest CUMP project is implemented in close cooperation with business partners as part of Business Finland’s Veturi ecosystem, which supports sustainable development. The project involves the leading companies Borealis, Neste and ABB, as well as Metsä Spring, Kemira, Vantaa Energy, Stora Enso, Kleener Power Solutions, Carbonreuse Finland, Fortum and Essity. In addition to VTT, LUT University is a research partner.

The Forest CUMP project, funded by Business Finland, is part of the Business Finland Veturi ecosystem, which develops various solutions towards sustainable development and national carbon neutrality together with major Finnish companies. The project started in August 2022 and will run until the end of 2024.