Strengthening application development

Recent DSc graduate Karl Alexander Henn joins Boreal Bioproducts® to strengthen the application development as R&D Manager. “We are delighted to have a new bright mind to work on functional coatings and various uses for leveraging our lignin and other phenolic extracts”, says Jaakko Pajunen, Managing Director of Boreal Bioproducts®.  

Alex introduces his motivations being value based, therefore meeting the mission of Boreal Bioproducts® well:

“I am very concerned about the state of both local and global natural ecosystems. I believe that bio-based materials are needed to achieve more sustainable consumption behaviors. Nevertheless, I also believe that natural ecosystems should be respected, and no harvested bio-based material should be wasted. This is what led me to study bioproduct technology, and then to join the team at Boreal Bioproducts®. I am of course interested in all wood-based materials, but lignin has a special place in my heart. Lignin is an interesting puzzle, still waiting to be solved. Although the interest in lignin research has increased significantly during the last years, very little of the newly developed lignin technology has reached consumers. So, after having focused on lignin within academia for almost seven years myself, I am eager to make use of what I have learnt. My goal is to develop simple and sustainable ways to use lignin in various applications, such as specialty coatings. Boreal Bioproducts® appealed to me precisely because of the focus on the development on ways to use wood-based resources more efficiently ”

This type of development work is important not only from a sustainability perspective, but also economically and politically. In Finland, for example, forests have always been a crucially important resource. Finland's forest industry contributes to about one fifth of Finland's exports and has been one of the main enablers for the good quality of life that we Finns enjoy. However, as wood based raw materials become more expensive, we need to learn to do more with less to keep up. Lignin valorization technologies will not only help the world to reduce its dependency on fossil-based materials, but it will also make heavily forested countries more self-sufficient. Boreal Bioproducts® is at the forefront in developing novel uses for lignin to valorize the forest industry side streams.

Welcome Alexander!