“Latvijas finieris” will invest 20 million euros in the establishment of a synthetic resin plant in Riga / Article

Kokapstrādes JSC “Latvijas finieris” plans to invest 20 million euros in the establishment of a synthetic resin production plant in Riga, informed Pauls Beķeris, a public relations specialist of “Latvijas finiera”.

The company explained that the construction of the plant is part of the international consortium project “Viobond”, which unites nine partners from five European Union (EU) member states under the leadership of “Latvijas veniera”.

Latvijas finieris, as the lead partner of the project, plans to invest up to 20 million euros in the implementation of the project, of which eight million euros will be co-financed by Horizon Europe.The signing of the grant agreement was fully completed on May 18, 2021, officially marking the beginning of significant cooperation. scheduled for 1 September this year to 31 August 2026.

The construction of the synthetic resin factory is planned for the next three years in Riga, in the Bolderāja industrial unit. It will be equipped with a technology unique in the world, which will allow to significantly reduce the proportion of fossil phenol in the production of adhesives, replacing it with renewable lignin – a natural biopolymer found in wood.

Within five years, the project aims to develop a formula and create the world’s first industrial production technology for “greener”, more environmentally and human-friendly synthetic phenolic formaldehyde resins,

which is currently used in Europe and elsewhere in the world for the production of plywood, thermal insulation materials, furniture, flooring, sandpaper and many other everyday products, the company explained.

A representative of “Latvijas finiera” said that in cooperation with the wood chemical and mechanical processing company “Stora Enso” an adhesive for the production of birch plywood has been developed, in which lignin partially replaces phenol.

“There is reason to believe that the project’s scientific partners will be able to develop a resin formula in which the natural polymer lignin will replace phenol to an even greater extent than is currently achieved,” the company said in a statement.

“The Viobond project is another step that also fulfills the commitment of Latvijas veniera to look for opportunities to completely abandon the use of fossil resources in the company’s economic activities by 2050,” emphasized Māris Būmanis, a member of the company’s board.

The partners involved in the interdisciplinary project are “Latvijas finieris”, the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, the Estonian company “Graanul Biotech”, the Finnish companies “ST1”, “Chempolis”, “Saint-Gobain Finland” and “Mirka”, as well as the German company “Pörner Ingenieurgesellshaft “and the Spanish Fundacio Universitaria Balmes.

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