woodly

Woodly® as a material

Plastic cannot be replaced, but it can be redesigned

Woodly® is an entirely new type of plastic based on softwood cellulose and it mimics the best qualities of traditional fossil-based plastics. Yes, Woodly material is plastic, just not the kind we are used to.

Why we have designed Woodly® as it is?

There is a common misconception that we can solve all the problems related to the use of fossil-based plastics by replacing plastics with completely different materials altogether. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Plastic is already everywhere, and it is more than just one type of material. In fact, tens of thousands of different grades of plastics are being commercially used. Plastic has become totally integrated with what we consume. Therefore, most of the time we are not even aware of it. The global production of plastics has already reached 350 million tonnes annually and it shows no signs of decline – on the contrary, it is set to grow at a CAGR of 3.5%.

Plastic cannot be replaced, nor does it need to be replaced. We can redesign plastic to retain the benefits it provides while reducing its ecological impact.

 

woodly

WoodlyCellulose from sustainably managed forests

WoodlyBuilding blocks inspired by nature

What is Woodly exactly?

Woodly’s main raw material comes from forests managed according to international ecological and ethical standards. Due to the bio-based content, Woodly® is a carbon neutral material which can be used to reduce dependency on fossil-sourced materials. Woodly® is designed to be recycled in the plastic recycling stream after being used. It can be also combusted if necessary.

Several building blocks are needed to make plastic from wood. The backbone of Woodly is cellulose polymer, which comes from wood. The cellulose is then modified with different building blocks to make it behave like plastic. These building blocks are inspired by nature, and many of them can be found directly in the nature as parts of plants. We also use fossil-sourced components as some of the bio-based counterparts are not yet available on industrial scale.

Currently, the first generation Woodly® grades are certified by Tüv Austria as 40-60% biobased. This is the first step on our journey as we strive towards 100% bio-based content.

Read more of Woodly’s vision and road map and environmental impact.

 

Production of plastics will soon reach 400 million tonnes per annum

“Production of plastics will soon reach 400 million tonnes per annum. Unless we react, by 2050 we will produce over 1 billion tons of plastic annually – and even if we take all the currently possible mitigation measures, growth will still be immense, resulting in a level of 700-800 million tons of plastics produced annually. This growth is driven not only by an expected population growth of 50 % in the next 30 years but also by changes in demographics. The number of “middle class” citizens, living in highly urban areas, is set to increase by 2 billion people over the same period. The global plastics problem is crying out for a solution. Unless mankind starts to take responsibility for its waste we will soon drown in plastics – and all sorts of other waste.”

Source: AFRY

Please share your opinion on our website content

Thank you for your feedback. Could you tell us what we can do to improve your experience at woodly.com.