Production of electrical insulation components is globally a B$1.19 business. Cellulose is one commonly used raw material for insulation components. State-of-the-art production methods for high quality electrical insulation products are typically labour intensive and slow. The main objective of NOVUM is to develop and demonstrate a compact and feasible pilot line concept based on novel processing technologies for rapid, design driven production of advanced cellulose-based electrical insulation components. This new pilot line will result in significant efficiency improvement and higher productivity and flexibility, while ensuring lower operational costs as compared with the state-of-the-art process. Manual production will be replaced by an automated manufacturing concept with increased resource efficiency, including 40% reduction in labour time and 60% reduction in waste generation, 20% lower energy consumption and 40% decrease in operating costs. Processing technologies in the focus of NOVUM are 3D printing of cellulose-based materials having thermoplastic features as well as foam forming and thermoforming of cellulose fibres. These three technologies will be developed in parallel to each other, together with the cellulose materials, in order to reach optimal combination for the pilot line concept. Besides technical feasibility, the decision on the pilot line concept will be based on the end use requirements as well as on economic, social and environmental impacts including circular economy considerations. The novel manufacturing concept will also enable exploitation of the full potential of design in generating form and thus novel functionalities to cellulose-based electrical insulation components. In addition, the concept will be based on multipliable technologies, enabling their transition and wide adoption for cellulose-based materials across the process industry and for applications beyond NOVUM for other industrial areas.

Problem Disposable plastic bottles are an increasing threat to our environment. 50 billion water bottles alone are consumed every year and 80 % of all plastic bottles end up in landfills. EcoXpac owns the technology to produce a 100% biodegradable bottle – the Green Fibre Bottle. Solution The fibre material is not new in itself, but so far it has not been possible for packaging manufacturers to produce a bottle at a competitive prize - primarily due to the extremely energy consuming and complicated drying process and long production cycle. EcoXpac owns the rights to an energy saving impulse-drying technique that will disrupt the market for moulded fibres. The technique will make it possible to replace all kinds of plastic products with biodegradable fibre products. The project Proof of concept has so far been achieved in a test facility. The purpose of the current project is to prepare the construction of an impulse drying process facility at a larger and more advanced scale that can serve as a demonstration plant. The innovation in this project has the potential to revolutionize the packaging industry in the same way as Tetra Pak did. The customer The end customers will be large manufacturers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods. The business model of EcoXpac is to sell the rights to use the fibre bottle within a specific end-user segment, e.g. dairy products, to global manufacturer and then work closely with the packaging manufacturer to customize the production line to their needs. The team The team behind EcoXpac possesses high-expertise in moulded fibre process technology and a proven commercial track record. EcoXpac works in close collaboration with the biggest dairy producer in Scandinavia, Arla Foods, about the development of a fibre bottle for Arla Foods products.