The contribution of forests to a fossil-free and circular chemical and materials industry

Sweden aims to become the world's first climate-neutral, circular and competitive welfare society by 2045. The chemical and process industries play a crucial role in achieving this transition. Two people who are actively working on these issues are Hanna Paradis, program manager at Climate Leading Process Industry and director of the West Swedish Chemistry and Materials Cluster, and Elin Hermansson, program manager for the organization Hållbar Kemi in Stenungsund.

Climate-leading process industry in West Sweden - an initiative for change

Hanna Paradis leads Climate Leading Process Industry, an initiative that brings together more than fifty organizations in the chemical and process industry in western Sweden. The aim is to drive the transition towards a fossil-independent and competitive industrial region through project activities and knowledge dissemination.

Almost every product in our daily lives is linked to the chemical industry, and to reduce its carbon footprint, the industry needs to switch to renewable and circular raw materials. Forest residues are an enormously important source of raw materials for new chemicals, new materials and renewable fuels. Sweden is in a unique position to contribute raw materials from forest residues for chemicals and materials.

In 2024, the chemical industry drew up a roadmap for Fossil Free Sweden, in which the industry set the target of replacing 40% of fossil raw materials by 2035 and 80% of fossil raw materials by 2045 with recycled and bio-based raw materials. The fuel industry already uses raw materials from the forest in its production of renewable fuels.

Climate-leading Process Industry is based at Lindholmen Science Park and has a good collaboration with the programs there.

- The collaboration we have with Innovatum Science Park is also valuable to us. In addition, we work closely with Hållbar kemi, which is a collaborative organization for chemical companies in Stenungsund, says Hanna.

Just as fossil materials need to be recycled, bio-based materials need to be recycled and remain in the economic system for as long as possible, explains Hanna. To minimize the uptake of fossil carbon from the ground, recycling of all carbon sources needs to increase. In the construction sector, for example, there is a lot of exciting work going on in the region around reuse and recycling of materials, and in Uddevalla, a tyre recycling plant is being built where the bio-based part of the tyre will become renewable fuel.

Forest raw material and circular solutions

Hanna believes that the region is well placed to create more efficient management of residual products from both agriculture and forestry, where raw materials can become building blocks for new chemistry and new materials. For example, there are residual products in forestry that are already used today for the production of paper and textiles, for example. The development of new value chains is about both streamlining the production processes and value chains we already have and developing new ones.

- Our basic mission is to create conditions for collaboration in the region. We finance our own research collaborations together with several actors in the chemical and process industry in Västra Götaland as well as academia and institutes.

Climate-leading Process Industry works with five strategic areas: renewable raw materials, circular flows, new process technology, product development and skills supply. "We see forest residues as an important raw material base for new chemistry and renewable materials," says Hanna.

The role of forests in the green transition

Forest raw materials and bio-based materials are seen as a key part of the chemical industry's transition. Hanna highlights that the forest can contribute new raw material streams, but that there are challenges linked to both access and sustainable use.

- Research is already underway on how we can use forest residues to develop new molecules and materials. For example, we are exploring the possibilities of using cellulose and lignin in the chemical industry. But we need to balance the need for forest raw materials with other sectors and ensure that their use is as resource-efficient as possible," says Hanna.

Elin Hermansson, works with the transition in the chemical industry in Stenungsund through the organization Hållbar Kemi, where Sweden's largest chemical cluster is located. Through the collaborative organization Sustainable Chemistry, she drives issues related to bio-based and circular raw materials, electrification and more efficient permit processes.

- For the chemical industry to be able to supply all other industries with sustainable materials, we need access to sustainable raw materials. This is not just about phasing out fossil fuels, but also about ensuring our own access to the raw materials of the future. In this, access to green carbon atoms is crucial.

Green carbon atoms are found in everything from residual streams from agriculture, forestry and sustainably produced crops to plastics and other materials collected at recycling stations, and carbon dioxide captured at power plants and industrial processes.

- We need to make sure they are used as efficiently as possible and end up in new materials instead of being burned or used as fuel," says Elin.

Elin also explains that, as chemical companies are international players, this means that access to electricity and green, bio-based or recycled carbon atoms is crucial for Stenungsund and Västra Götaland to be considered the best place to invest in the sustainable chemistry of the future.

The availability of carbon atoms for the chemical industry is also a matter of security of supply. This makes the raw material transition urgent, not only for the sake of the climate. It also makes Swedish raw material streams, such as forest raw materials, very important, she concludes.

Otherwise, there is a great risk that investments in new production facilities will be made where access to electricity and raw materials is secured. There is a great deal of collaboration between Hållbar Kemi and other regional actors, including via the VGR-funded project Climate-leading Process Industry, says Elin.
Europe must also generally become more self-sufficient when it comes to critical raw materials.

Conditions and collaboration for change in Västra Götaland

Climate-leading Process Industry is also based in western Sweden, where there is both industrial expertise and a strong commitment to sustainability issues. There is a well-established infrastructure, good access to partners and a regional desire to drive the transition. The region's investments in electrification, among other things, have also been of great importance for the possibility of developing the climate-smart processes of the future.

Västra Götaland, as a location, plays a crucial role in creating the conditions for industry's transition. Climate-leading Process Industry and Sustainable Chemistry work closely with local actors to develop new technologies and drive forward new solutions.

- We see great potential in creating regional cycles for forest-based residual products. This could provide the industry with the raw material needed to replace fossil alternatives and at the same time contribute to a fossil-free chemical industry.

Through continued research, development and collaboration, forest resources can contribute to a fossil-free and circular chemical industry - and at the same time make Västra Götaland a leading region in the global sustainability transition.

Read more about the Västra Götaland Forest Program here.