Norske Skog’s Tasmanian paper plant will begin sustainable chemical production in a joint venture with Tony Duncan’s Circa Group as it seeks to diversify from paper.
The Boyer Mill has been selected as home for a commercial demonstration plant that will produce Cyrene, a non-toxic, green chemical alternative to existing solvents used in pharmaceutical and agrichemical industries across the world. The $6.6 million plant will produce around 50 tonnes per annum of Cyrene and is due to be up and running within 12 months, following a grant of $1.5 million from the Tasmanian Government.
According to Tony Duncan, CEO Circa Group, the company’s focus is the research, development and commercialisation of bio-chemicals from sustainable cellulose feedstocks. “We’ve been working on the current project since 2009 and it’s great to have Norske Skog on board given their knowledge and experience in processing wood residues and large scale manufacturing.”
Norske Skog earlier this week revealed it was trying to restructure debt that has hit €1 billion and threatened the company’s operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Norske Skog’s Regional President, Andrew Leighton, said the diversification into bio-chemical production was a good fit for Norske Skog’s Australasian strategic direction of “building our future from fibre and energy.” He said the company had been working with Circa Group for the past 12 months and he looked forward to a long and productive relationship.
The commercial demonstration plant at the Boyer Mill would be the fifth and largest scale up to date of Circa's Furacell technology. The plant is designed to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology, while providing increased volumes for researchers and customers in Europe, North America, Asia and locally.
Customer trialing, which has been underway for 18 months, has shown Cyrene to be one of the very few new solvents capable of competing in a global market of over 900,000 tonnes per annum, where many traditional products are under increasing regulatory pressure due to environmental and health concerns.