Woodly – The cellulose-based plastic revolution

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Type of post: COMPANY/PRODUCT PROFILE.

Woodly Ltd is a Finnish cleantech company and the developer of a wood-based, transparent packaging material called Woodly®. The development of this new material began in 2011. The company has already manufactured packaging prototypes made of the wood-based plastic for companies in the consumer goods sector. Now, Woodly has been noted internationally as well, by being included in the Bioplastic News ranking of brands and companies. It was ranked as 12th on the list, making it the lists’ highest ranked start-up company and it was positioned above many established multinational companies. At the moment, the team is working very hard to make sure you can find products packed in Woodly at stores. Let us know more about its breakthrough technology and products.

Figure 1. Woodly is a Finnish company manufacturing a wood-based raw material granulate, that resembles small pearls. These granulates are then used by industrial partners to manufacture packaging.

The product

What is Woodly®?

It is an entirely new, wood-based and transparent packaging material. It is a carbon-neutral material with cellulose from sustainably managed forests. Woodly can be used for packaging food and everyday goods. It can be processed with all the conventional techniques: film blowing, sheet extrusion, extrusion coating, injection moulding, blow moulding, thermoforming…

Sustainable and biobased

Woodly’s main raw material comes from FSC-certified forests. This means that the forests are managed according to international ecological and ethical standards. Currently, Woodly has a certificate guaranteeing that its products are made from 40-60% renewable raw materials. The technical team is striving to constantly increase the ratio of biobased feedstock, without detracting from their qualities.

Woodly’s carbon footprint is smaller than that of other similar materials. In addition, it has been designed to be recyclable, making it fully integrated in a circular economy. The quality and mechanical properties remain after 5 cycles. If Woodly products end up in combustible waste, the energy recovered yields 70% less fossil-based carbon dioxide than burning traditional plastics.

Product line development

At the moment, the company is developing Woodly® with its industrial partners into wood-based clear films, rigid packaging as well as carton coatings.

Woodly® 100
Wood-based material for clear films that can be heat-sealed and printed. The first product in this series is under testing.
Woodly® 200
Heat-formable material quality for use in various transparent and clear rigid packages. This product series is currently undergoing testing.
Woodly® 300
Wood-based polymer extrusion coatings for cardboard. This product series is currently undergoing testing.

Figure 2. Woodly’s main raw material comes from FSC-certified forests

The technology

Woodly® is based on proprietary technology making cellulosic material into thermoformable plastic and thus enabling the wide variety of converting techniques. It is commercially ready. The company is able to produce 10 tons per month with the option of scaling-up to 1,000 tons next year if there is demand. Further plans beyond that exist already.

Partners

The company is cooperating with two global suppliers of sustainable packaging solutions (Wipak and Amerplast) and has published cooperation with a local salad producer (Järvikylä). More agreements are expected to come up soon.

Figure 3. Woodly is cooperating with the local salad producer Järvikylä

Contact
Jaakko Kaminen
CEO
jaakko.kaminen@woodly.com
+358 (0)40 590 0035

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