VTT opens a pilot plant in Finland utilizing captured CO2 to produce recyclable plastics

Finland wants to utilize bio-based carbon capture as one way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the Government Program aims to significantly increase the use of technological carbon sinks. The Forest CUMP research project of VTT and LUT University has investigated how bio-based CO2 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 as VTT and its partners open a pilot plant built in sea containers in the Bioruukki pilot centre in Espoo, Finland. 

"Finland has huge potential to be one of the leading countries in utilizing bio-based carbon dioxide," says Juha Lehtonen, Research Professor at VTT. "Finland produces around 30 MMtpy of bio-based CO2. 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." 

Polypropylene and polyethylene are the most common plastic types used in everyday life, which are currently mainly produced from fossil raw materials. Plastics play an important role in sequestering carbon dioxide in long-lasting products.

"The technology creates a significant export opportunity for renewable high-value-added products. Due to its extensive forest industry, Finland has a huge potential to utilize bio-based carbon dioxide. Outside the Nordic countries, large sources of bio-based carbon dioxide are rare," Lehtonen says. 

The business ecosystem covers the chain from factory pipes to plastic products. The Forest CUMP project is implemented in close cooperation with business partners as part of Business Finland's Veturi ecosystem, which supports sustainable development. One of the Veturi companies is Borealis. Forest CUMP is part of Borealis' SPIRIT program, which promotes the green transition of the plastics industry.

"This is a significant development project to support our vision of capturing and utilising industrial carbon emissions by producing long-lasting or fully recyclable plastic products that can sequester carbon for a long time," says Ismo Savallampi from Borealis.

The research project has studied the entire production chain from carbon capture to ethylene and propylene production. Ethylene and propylene are the raw materials for polyethylene and polypropylene. At this stage, they are produced at VTT Bioruukki from flue gas carbon dioxide. In the future, the technology can be brought into production wherever bio-based carbon dioxide is produced, such as in forest industry or waste incineration plants.