FMs’ meeting to feature wood-based bio-economy

Uusi Puu - The New Wood -project presents wood-based bioeconomy and circular economy solutions at the Arctic Council meeting scheduled to be held in Rovaniemi, Finland on May 7.

During the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council Finland has in various ways also showcased Finland’s Arctic expertise and environmentally-friendly innovations, said a press release.

The everyday heroes and new innovations shown in the exhibition demonstrate in very concrete ways how wood-based innovations can be used to respond to global sustainable development challenges.

Under the theme ‘What wood can do’ the exhibition presents a wide variety of wood-based solutions related to packaging, textiles, indoor decoration, chemical and pharmaceutical industry applications, and climate-friendly agriculture.

More than 20 Finnish operators participating in the New Wood project are presenting bioproducts already placed on the market that substitute for fossil raw materials. Also shown are new innovations about to enter the market in the near future.

“During the Chairmanship Finland has stressed the importance of collaboration in climate change mitigation under the theme ‘Exploring common solutions’. Finnish forestry industry is a strong advocate of this theme through the sustainable use of wood, production that is largely based on renewable energy, and products that substitute for fossil raw materials”, said Aleksi Härkönen, Finland’s Ambassador for Arctic Affairs.

Soilfood produces soil amendments from nutrient and carbon rich sidestreams of the forest industry which help to reduce dependence on non-renewable nutrients.

“The New Wood exhibition shows us a good selection of Finnish expertise and concrete solutions, including those to reduce the use of plastics”, Härkönen added.

Wood-based bioproducts support the transition from a fossil economy to the bioeconomy and circular economy.

“I am sure that such a broad range of Finnish bioproducts shows the leaders of the Arctic countries how many ways there are to replace fossil products and other environmentally harmful materials by wood-based ones”, said Hanna Kalliomäki, chair of the New Wood project.

The exhibition in Rovaniemi is open to the participants of the Arctic Council Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 7 May 2019.