In 2020 Metsä Group, Fortum and Business Finland launched an exceptionally large R&D programme, the so called ‘Veturi’- or leading company project ExpandFibre. Its goal was to accelerate the research and development of wood- and straw-based bioproducts. The programme lasted four years and ended last August. During its active phase, the programme created an extensive innovation ecosystem of more than a hundred partners. The programme’s positive effects are now visible at Metsä Group.
ExpandFibre involved a total of 35 publicly funded projects and 108 organisational members, including both large and small companies from industry and service production, universities, research institutes, associations, and venture capitalists. Just under a fifth of the organisations come from outside of Finland. The programme’s main goal was to bring together operators in the sector to generate innovations. The investment in the research carried out in the ecosystem created by the operators amounted to over EUR 140 million, of which Business Finland's investment accounted for EUR 70 million. Research carried out within the scope of the programme has advanced the expertise of the fibre and bioproduct sector in universities and research institutions, as well as in companies cooperating with them. It can therefore be predicted that new commercial products will be on the market within 5–10 years.
Metsä Group operated in the ExpandFibre project as a “leading” company, or a frontline company operating on the global market. One of the terms of Business Finland's financing for leading companies is that the leading company promises to significantly increase its own research and development expenditure. It receives public funding in return for increasing its own investments.
Metsä Group’s research and development expenditure totalled EUR 24 million in 2019. It increased to EUR 54 million by 2024, meaning that the expenditure more than doubled over four years. The cumulative additional expenditure in those years was EUR 52 million, which clearly exceeds the target set by Business Finland for Metsä Group.
Of course, the root cause of increasing R&D investments is not the programme itself but Metsä Group's strategy, which aims to develop new products and new business. However, the risks of long-term research and development activities are high. Business Finland's financing for leading companies generates the desired leverage effect and supports the growth of Finland's R&D investments as a whole in line with the goals set by the Finnish parliament.
The ExpandFibre programme has brought to Metsä Group not only valuable lessons about the ecosystem but also tangible results: The development of Kuura textile fibre, Muoto fibre-based packaging products, and paperboard and other fibre products has progressed significantly during the project. New bio-based barrier paperboards are closer to adoption, and several new packaging designs that save natural resources have been introduced. The Kuura and Muoto projects have moved from laboratory, pilot and demo plant phases to the pre-engineering phase of a commercial mill. Future investments in commercial factories manufacturing new bioproducts are therefore already on the horizon, although there is still work to be done, of course.
The work requires patience, but its fruits may materialise as new jobs, a larger export income for Finland, in the environmental impact of our operations and in the everyday life of us all.
Cooperation between the two leading companies has been inspiring and mutually beneficial. We wish Fortum's Bio2X project all the best with its new owner, Chempolis Oy.
Metsä Group continues to invest in R&D to produce new bioproducts for the world, as well as better processes, services, and digital solutions. We are moving step by step towards a transformative future with our partners and the ecosystem.