Introducing Liquid Forest™: Part one - Tall oil

Tall oil has been used for many years in a range of applications from adhesives to tyres to biofuels. But Södra’s Bioproducts team believe this is only the start of its potential. Sales Manager, Viktor Odenbrink: “Our homes are full of products that contain fossil-based materials that could be replaced with more sustainable alternatives from the forest.

“We also have a 25 percent stake in the tall oil refinery Sunpine which is contributing to more sustainable biofuels, a market which is sure to grow as Europe strives to meet tough new carbon emission reductions targets by 2030. Sunpine is not limited to fuel, however. Resin for printing inks is another example of the sustainable applications tall oil can be used for.

Johannes Bogren, Vice President of Södra Cell Bioproducts, says that just as with pulp, the sustainability story for Liquid Forest™ products needs telling and communicating with the customers’ customers is a potentially valuable service. “Tall oil could be a sustainable source for so many applications we haven’t even thought of yet, but we need to be proactive and communicate its green credentials. Initially our focus was biofuels but we believe tall oil could be used far more widely. We are actively seeking partners to explore the possibilities.

“Next year we will seek FSC certification for our tall oil, which hasn’t been done before. We’ll also be launching an internal project to increase our yield of tall oil per tonne of pulp yet further. It’s very much part of our strategy seeking to maximise resource efficiency in the value chain.”

The plan for 2021 is to produce around 40,000 tonnes but this will increase when Värö expands in 2022.