Biosorbe scales up and attracts new partnerships

With a new bio-based material, the start-up company Biosorbe can decontaminate, clean and filter oil products and other hydrocarbons without using plastic. They are now scaling up the business and see great opportunities in construction and medical technology.

A supertanker runs aground, causing oil damage to birds and major environmental hazards - this is the traditional picture of oil spills. But the oil spills that get the most attention are really exceptions. The bigger problem is in industries around the world where oil is used, left over and spilled.

- The large volumes are 'everyday waste', in factories and workshops. There aren't even any figures on the extent of this, and this is the waste we want to deal with," says Lars-Erik Sjögren of Biosorbe.

By hydrophobizing paper pulp to make it water-repellent and fat-seeking, Biosorbe has developed a bio-based material that can replace plastic alternatives and also be used in completely new areas, in air, water and soil. It is currently made from virgin paper pulp, but in the future it will be possible to make it from residual streams from the forestry industry.

- In 2019, we started a small pilot at the Rottneros mill in Värmland. This was the starting point for scaling up and building a slightly larger factory, which we started using in the spring of 2022. This year we expect to increase both production and sales," says Lars-Erik Sjögren.

The first customers are in large water treatment systems, but also among smaller industries that use it in workshops. Right now, Biosorbe is also working on developing its material for more application areas, including construction and medical technology.

- Since we can easily foam the material, it may be suitable for insulation. We are also looking at board material for construction, where we use lignin to increase strength," says Lars-Erik Sjögren.

In 2022 and 2023, Biosorbe has been one of the companies in BizMaker'sbusiness development program Forest Business Accelerator, which aims to accelerate the development of sustainable business ideas linked to the forest industry.

- We wanted to broaden our network beyond the Värmland cluster, which is our home base, and we wanted to be involved because the accelerator is very focused on the companies' needs based on where they are right now. It has been super interesting, we have made contact with two or three large companies and also found common opportunities together with some of the other accelerator companies.

One of the contacts is in the new and potentially important segment of medical technology. There, Biosorbe has tested and verified its technology together with one of Sweden's largest medtech companies.

- It would have taken a very, very long time to get there without the accelerator. We have positive results so we can continue to work together.
Lars-Erik Sjögren, Biosorbe