Wood is a traditional industry with an extensive history in Norway. Last year, Norwegian forest owners planted 36 million trees that will create significant value for the next generation. According to the trade association Treindustrien, can increased use of wood in construction lead to an increased turnover for the industry that predicts the an annual turnover of 180 billion per year. Although sustainability is at the core of the industry, the industry is highly dependent on plastic packaging and has a huge consumption of disposable plastic. At the same time, new environmental requirements accrue to the industry, from customer to construction site, where the EU’s framework directive for waste requires 70% material recycling. This development is the background for “Project Lignum” which aims to reduce 150 tonnes of plastic through reuse.
The cost of using disposable plastic at the production level often accrues to players further down the value chain. By bringing contractor, client and manufacturer together, we can through collaboration find a better product innovation that also meets today’s environmental requirements by reducing waste, says Ida Pernille Hatlebrekke, project manager for Lignum and CCO in Looping.
The project is funded by Handelens Miljøfond, which through earmarked money from plastic bag sales supports players who in various ways will reduce plastic waste, increase recycling and reuse of plastic, and reduce consumption of plastic carrier bags. Lignum is a very good project in the fund’s portfolio of circular industrial projects.
This is a brilliant project and a great example of a method that is relatively simple and has a significant environmental effect if actors in the supply chain cooperate and the willingness to work of the actors is there. This is a circular model that is coming to stay and we are happy to support and accelerate such projects, says Rasmus Hansson, general manager of Handelens Miljøfond.
Among the participants in the project are players such as Entra, Bergene Holm, LAB Entreprenører, Ramirent, Adapteo, Flexator and Løvenskiold Handel. Environmental manager in Løvenskiold Vækerø, Heidi Lyngstad, is one of the participants who has long been looking for an alternative to disposable plastic.We own several element factories where the materials are packaged manually in plastic.
So far, we have not found a perfect alternative to the current solution and look with great anticipation on the innovation potential in the project, says environmental manager Heidi Lyngstad.
Looping has had success in the construction industry after the launch of the product Modulecover which is used as transport packaging on contractor modules. With customers such as Ramirent, they have cut over 50 tons of plastic. Founder Jens Brustad sees great transfer value to new product areas where manual packaging, module production and standardized sizes can allow for a reusable model.
Today we see customers who spend over two hours packaging products. This is a cumbersome and inefficient use of resources we want to improve this process by offering packaging that is functional, durable and not least – reusable. Brustad emphasizes that the goal is to set a new industry standard for circular packaging through 1-3 new product innovations.
The main challenge is logistics. Here we get great help from our self developed technology solution, but the collaboration between players in the value chain is just as important for creating a good flow. The star team is in place, now the only that remains is to see what we manage to create together, Brustad concludes.
