Metsä starts movement to promote Europe’s bioeconomy

- EU bioeconomy has turnover of nearly €2 trillion and employs more than 22 million

 

- Biobased Industries Consortium seeking new kind of partnership with the EC to accelerate commercial application of the latest research results

 

Metsä Group, a major forest industry company in Finland and parent of fiber-based substrate supplier Metsä Board, has become a founding member of the Biobased Industries Consortium as it looks to promote the development of Europe’s bioeconomy.

 

Metsä Group and around 40 other European companies have founded the new community, which has an objective of strengthening the competitiveness of European industry, and to create and safeguard jobs.

 

In addition, it strives to contribute to decreasing Europe’s dependency on imported oil and reducing the environmental impact of industry.

 

The European Commission states that, with the world population moving towards nine billion by 2050 and fossil resources dwindling, Europe needs to review its management and use of renewable biological resources.

 

The EU bioeconomy already has a turnover of nearly €2 trillion and employs more than 22 million people, accounting for nine percent of total employment in the EU.

 

The Biobased Industries Consortium said it is seeking a new kind of innovation partnership with the European Commission to accelerate commercial application of the latest research results.

 

The innovation partnership would also significantly support the renewal of the Finnish forest industry and strengthen its position in the sustainable bioeconomy of the future, Metsä Group said.

 

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