Cleaner cellulose delivers global environmental benefits

Using timber as a raw material, Borregaard produces biochemicals that can replace oil-based alternatives in sectors ranging from agriculture, fisheries, food and pharmaceuticals to construction, cosmetics, fuels and batteries. In this way, Borregaard's products help address long-term global challenges related to population growth, access to resources, and environmental and climate impacts. Its products and services are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Borregaard won the 2020 Export Award, competing against 101 other nominated companies.

'Borregaard is an excellent example of a company that has successfully combined innovation, growth and sustainability. This is a green industrial success story that Norway can be proud of,' said Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø, who presented the award on behalf of Export Credit Norway, GIEK and us.

The jury's citation highlighted the company's ability to transform significantly, evolving from a fairly traditional Norwegian industrial company producing cellulose and paper into a modern industrial group with a broad product range and customers worldwide. The jury also emphasised the company's sound ecological resource management, which gives it the resilience to withstand fluctuations in individual markets.

Over the past eight years, Borregaard has received financial support and various types of advisory services from us, the Research Council of Norway and Enova. In total, we have provided the company with more than NOK 62 million.

'Borregaard is investing heavily in developing new products based on timber, a renewable resource. Alongside its focus on sustainability, the company has a strong capacity for innovation and clear international ambitions. Borregaard creates significant value in and for Norway,' says Hans Marius Brandstorp, financing adviser at our Oslo Viken office.

'The support from us and the Research Council of Norway has been crucial in reducing our risk, particularly in research and development. In our industry, you need to be able to deliver full-scale trial production, and projects must be tangible and feasible,' says Thomas Kristiansen, Innovation Director for Speciality Cellulose at Borregaard.

As the industrial company sells solutions to customers rather than just physical products, having local expertise in the markets where it establishes a presence is essential. Borregaard has 1,100 employees at factories and sales offices across 16 countries. More than ten per cent of its employees work in roles that bring them closest to customers.

The raw material and production process are considered highly sustainable and environmentally friendly, and the company is a global leader in climate certification. A large proportion of the one million solid cubic metres of timber processed annually at the Sarpsborg biorefinery consists of residual wood chips from sawmills. This ensures that the entire log is used, while the solutions also replace products that rely on fossil-based, non-renewable resources such as crude oil, mineral oil, petroleum and natural gas.

Since the 1990s, Borregaard has focused on specialised cellulose products. Over the past 30 years, the biorefinery has developed several high-purity products. Its latest process technology is cold caustic extraction, which removes a significant proportion of impurities from the wood. Only a small number of cellulose producers worldwide use this technology.

As an alternative to off-the-shelf solutions based on cold caustic extraction, the industrial company has developed its own process, known as Ice Bear technology. This technology requires less investment than the conventional method. Ice Bear technology also gives the biorefinery greater flexibility to produce different, higher-purity cellulose grades that meet market needs.

'This product range is used in applications including LCD screens for mobile phones, spectacle frames, filters and tyre reinforcement. Another potential application is biocomposites, which offer a sustainable alternative to oil-based products,' says Ali Moosavifar, Technical Service Manager for speciality cellulose at Borregaard.

Borregaard's development is market-driven. By understanding customer needs and how its products are used, the company creates significant value. In selected segments, demand is growing for purity, stability and sustainable raw materials. Development projects such as ICE Bear have been essential in enabling the company to enter new, highly specialised application areas.

Borregaard's key drivers are:

• Market demand for more sustainable, plant-based products
• Stricter regulations and the phasing out of fossil-based plastics, driven by consumer trends
• Strict quality requirements in the food and pharmaceutical industries
• Demanding applications where trace impurities can be harmful and undesirable in the end product, such as LCD screens