Borregaard invests in MFC
Borregaard’s Board of Directors has decided to invest in a facility for the production of Exilva microfibrillar cellulose, MFC.
The project is based on new innovations related to the product itself as well as to the production process and the applications.
Exilva MFC is based on natural and renewable raw materials. It has the potential to replace products derived from petrochemicals, and it also represents an opportunity to exchange organic solvent systems with water based solutions. In total this will lead to considerable positive environmental effects.
Borregaard’s project to develop MFC started in 2005, and the R&D work has partly been carried out in a pilot plant. The development work has taken place in close cooperation with potential customers.
The raw material, specialty cellulose, is split into a complex network of fibrils with the use of proprietary technology developed as part of the project. Exilva MFC has a unique set of characteristics, including rheology modification, stabilisation, texture modification and water retention. It can therefore find its way into valuable and novel applications in a variety of products, such as adhesives, detergents, cosmetics, composites and other industrial formulations, according to Borregaard.
Production is expected to start in the third quarter of 2016.