Together with Finnish state research centre VTT Technical Research Center (Espoo; www.vtt.fi) as a technology partner, Woodly (Espoo; www.woodly.com) has developed films and flexible packaging based on wood cellulose. In cooperation with Finnish film and packaging manufacturers Amerplast (Tampere; www.amerplast.com) and Wipak (Nastola; www.wipak.com), the company originally founded as Welmu International is now working on packaging prototypes made of these materials.

According to a Woodly spokesperson, there have been successful tests with packaging for Rapala fishing bait and Järvikylä kitchen herbs. In September 2019, Wipak also presented its first products made of Woodly materials at the “Fachpack” trade fair in Nuremberg / Germany. The company has not yet brought a commercial application to market but hopes to pass this milestone before the end of the year, as Woodly CEO Jaakko Kaminen told Plasteurope.com. The films themselves are already available for sale. The capacities available for this purpose at Amerplast and Wipak comprise “several thousand tonnes.”

Woodly says the cellulose resin processed into cast and blown films is recyclable and is said to have the same characteristics as conventional packaging plastics. The material has a content of 40% to 60% of bio-based material made of pine wood waste. It is mixed with additives, some of which are also bio-based, though for the most part purchased from the traditional chemical industry. “However, it is by no means a hybrid material that also contains polypropylene or other traditional plastics, but an entirely new material,” said Kaminen. Woodly is currently designed for use in mono material and monolayer films, but according to the CEO, barrier designs are entirely conceivable.