The BOOST project: Pioneering sustainable nonwovens
The BOOST project, a Business Finland Co-Innovation initiative, aims at revolutionizing the nonwovens industry by developing scalable, industrially relevant material solutions for the strongly increasing market of sustainable nonwovens. The guiding vision is a value-adding, profitable, and growing Finnish industry in the field of nonwovens, and applications without plastics and with recycled content.
The BOOST project leverages collaboration between public and private actors to develop competitive products for international markets. Focusing on sustainable nonwovens, BOOST collects best practices and identifies development areas. Research is refined with industry partners, scaled up in VTT's and TAMK's environments, and addresses bottlenecks in the green transition.
BOOST is set to enhance the performance of bio-based functional non-wovens through innovative strategies and focuses on the following technologies:
Air-laid: Develop strengthening strategies and application areas for air-laid nonwovens
Carding: Develop the process for recycled and bio-based raw materials for technical nonwovens
Foam forming: Develop a value-added high-quality solution for recycled fibres derived from textile waste
The identified and targeted economic, environmental, societal, and scientific impacts are:
Creating new business opportunities for value chain actors by expanding the applications and use of plastic-free nonwovens developed in Finland.
Reducing environmental impact and plastic waste by using fossil-free raw materials, fibres, biodegradable and recyclable additives.
Providing growth opportunities for the Finnish industry with job creation and sustainable economic growth.
Advancing scientific knowledge and making a significant impact on the scientific community
“Participating in this project with Finnish leading nonwoven producers will open new opportunities to learn about sustainable fibers and nonwoven technologies. It' great to have open discussion between academia, research and business on this topic. We all can learn from each other and hopefully find new sustainable solutions in nonwovens”, says Ida Koivisto, Technology Manager new textile and technology at Mirka.
BOOST's strength lies in a good value chain with participants throughout the chain. BOOST forms a tight network of research organizations and companies which learn together, develop their own competitiveness and identify new value chains and potential markets. Fourteen key actors from the Finnish nonwovens value network, Anpap Oy, Brightplus Oy, CH-Polymers Oy, Ewona Finland Oy, Huopaliike Lahtinen, JedX, Kemira Oyj, Koskenpään Huopatehdas Oy, Mirka Oy, SharpCell Oy, Suominen Oyj, Rester Oy, Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy, and UPM-Kymmene Oyj, are working with the research partners VTT and Tampere University of Applied Sciences.