— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Finnish circular solutions and waste management provider Fortum (Espoo; www.fortum.com) has introduced what it calls the world’s first biodegradable plastic based entirely on carbon capture and utilisation (CCU).

The activities are part of its Fortum Recycling & Waste subsidiary, the sale of which to Norway’s NG Group (Lysaker; www.nggroup.no) was finalised at the start of December. The company’s mechanical polyolefin recycling activities are also part of the EUR 800 mn deal. NG Group, which is part of Summa Equity, put its post-acquisition revenue at around EUR 1.2 bn, with the 900 Fortum Recycling & Waste employees bringing the staff total to approximately 3,500.

Fortum produced the first sample of its “breakthrough” Inga PHA in October using carbon emissions from waste incineration at its domestic plant in Riihimäki. The group said it was looking for partners to drive commercialisation of the polymer, which it expected to achieve “within this decade”.

Tony Rehn, head of the Inga development team at Fortum, said, “There is an ever-increasing need for high-quality sustainable plastics that can be used everywhere and that meet the set requirements, whether it be hygiene, colour, haptic, or barrier properties.”

The new material meets all these demands, according to Rehn. “We believe that Inga will break the ground for a whole new category of responsible plastics, though mechanical recycling of plastics and bio-based solutions are still needed.”

Related: nova-Institute report says advanced tech crucial alongside mechanical recovery

Fortum noted that its Inga material has the same qualitative properties as fossil-based virgin plastics. Combined with additives and fillers, the PHA can be turned into a polyester that is water-resistant, recyclable, and fully biodegradable, including home compostable.

The rigidity and durability of the CCU-based PHA enables applications in E&E, toys, and cosmetics, while its barrier properties allow for use in food packaging, the company said, adding that it is suitable for various processing methods, including extrusion, injection moulding, and dispersion coating.

As Fortum is making headway in CCU, it is putting other Circular Solutions segments such as battery recycling and its UK waste-to-energy business under review to focus on clean energy and decarbonisation.

At the start of November, the company announced the divestment of its turbine and generator services in Finland, Sweden, and Germany to Elcoline Group (Varkaus, Finland; www.elcoline.fi). The transaction is subject to the usual closing conditions and is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Advancing its aim to remove coal from its operations by 2027, the company at the end of October announced an EUR 100 mn investment in decarbonising its Polish plant in Czestochowa. The retrofitting process is expected to be completed by end-2026. The move is set to further boost its carbon-free power generation, which is already at 98% overall.