This is where it's happening Processum at the heart of development Magnus Hallberg, CEO of Processum
Processum is the creative hub for a world-leading cluster based around the development and commercialisation of biorefinery processes, green products, chemicals and materials. Ten years have now passed since the start of our VINNVÄXT journey with the Biorefinery of the Future, and it is clear that we are moving even closer to the vision jointly formulated by the cluster back in 2008. It is here in our region it happens! One example of a proactive initiative in full swing in 2018 is SCA's development of the world's largest pulp mill for softwood pulp, a mill that will also utilise residual products from forestry and forest industries to produce renewable petrol and diesel. Another example is the ‘Flaggskepp Bioraffinaderi’ (Flagship Biorefinery) feasibility study being carried out by Processum in partnership with companies from the forestry, paper, pulp, chemical, textiles and fashion indu stries, which indicated promising results and strong profitability for a large scale biorefinery in Domsjö. I expect to see many biorefinery concepts developed in the cluster being realised over the coming years. The level of interest in the production of single cell protein for fish feed from side streams from the forestry industry is an example of an area where we have seen strong interest from the fishing industry. The fact that much of the driving force behind the development now comes from end users means that the project has adopted an even stronger focus on commercialising the concept in recent years. I am therefore going to stick my neck out and promise that when we celebrate our 20th anniversary in a few years’ time, we'll be serving up a fantastic salmon sashimi for starters, which will of course have been reared on forest-based single cell protein. Bioendev's torrefaction technology and SEKAB's CelluApp technology platform are two further examples of mature biorefinery concepts developed within the cluster which are ready for industrial scaling-up. However, the State must first provide the right framework conditions for this to happen in Sweden. To illustrate the opportunities we have open to us and identify the framework conditions that must be in place, we organised Sweden's first National Bioeconomy Day here in Örnsköldsvik in partnership with the municipality of Örnsköldsvik, North Sweden Clean Tech, the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, the Swedish Forest Industries Federation and IKEM - Innovation and Chemical Indu 2
stries in Sweden. The event was a great success, and we look forward to seeing it live on and being developed further in the future because this is a forum we need! We therefore wish Karlstad and Paper Province success with the 2018 event. During the year, both the cluster and the region have continued to position themselves as regards to the expansion of research acti vity and development of the already strong testing and demonstration infrastructure for forest biorefinery development. Several pilots were established during the year, and we are pleased to see companies such as MoRe Research carrying out targeted initiatives within biorefinery research, particularly the nanocellulose sector. Processum is also growing and we took on no fewer than 10 employees in 2017. I'm incredibly impressed with the way in which our new employees have settled in and started to contribute to our work. Not only have you exceeded expectations in terms of project delivery, but with your energy, enthusiasm and positive attitude, you have also helped to make Processum an even more pleasant workplace. I am also equally impressed by and grateful to the group managers and others at Processum for the way in which they have welcomed new employees and created the right conditions for them to settle into the organisation so quickly and smoothly. 2017 was also the year in which the consolidation of RISE got under way in earnest. We have already seen the effects of this at Processum through more and more joint ventures with various parts of RISE. We can see incredible potential in bringing together the skills in RISE with the requirements and expertise that exists within the cluster. The autumn members’ meeting therefore focused on match-making between RISE and the cluster, with both member companies and researchers from the regional universities participating. Our merger with BioBusiness Arena at the end of the year will strengthen our expertise in commercialisation and business renewal, and we hope and believe that our presence in Sundsvall will reinforce our links with many of our member companies, including BizMaker and Mid Sweden University. We therefore begin 2018 with great enthusiasm and will continue to develop our role as the creative hub of our world-leading cluster. //