Åsa Ek, former Development Manager, has been appointed new CEO of Cellutech, a company that develops groundbreaking products based on materials from the Swedish forest.
 
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Cellutech was founded in 2012 and is working to commercialize materials such as hollow spheres and lightweight foam, both made entirely from cellulose. The materials are therefore renewable and biodegradable. The lightweight foam, which has been named Cellufoam™, has received much attention recently.

With years of experience in research and development it is the Board's strong belief that Åsa Ek has the right skills to lead Cellutech's work to commercialize research on new wood-based materials.
 
- It will be very exciting to assume the CEO role. There is amazing scientific research going on in the area that we are able to further develop. The forest has been an important part of the Swedish economy for a long time, but I think that we have only seen the beginning of a new era where the building blocks of trees are used as raw materials for products that previously have been oil-based.
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Cellutech collaborates with the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC), a Swedish research center focusing on new materials from the forest. The unique collaboration provides the opportunity for innovations outside the forest industry's traditional business areas.
 
 
 
Cellutech is owned by Stora Enso, FAM, Bergvik Skog, SweTree Technologies, KTH Holding, Chalmers Ventures and twenty researchers at WWSC.

Cellutech has developed a bicycle helmet entirely based on materials from the forest. It is showcased today and is the first product realized from the inspirational project Ekoportal2035, created by Skogsindustrierna.

The helmet is a prototype designed and constructed by the designer Rasmus Malbert. Cellulose materials with different expressions were used in the design process. The helmet has an outer shell of wood veneer and straps made of durable paper. The cushioning inside consists of Cellutech’s cellulose foam, Cellufoam™.

Cellufoam™ is a new and unique material made of nanocellulose produced from wood pulp and is therefore both renewable and biodegradable. The properties of Cellufoam™ are suitable for use in e.g. lightweight construction, packaging materials and absorbent products. The idea of the foam comes from a research group within the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC) and has been further developed by Cellutech.

- The collaboration with Cellutech makes it possible to commercialize the new materials we develop within WWSC and bring them closer to the market, says Lars Wågberg, Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology.

The bicycle helmet is the first example of how Cellufoam™ can be used. Work is now in progress to find more suitable applications. There is currently an increasing need for renewable and biodegradable foam materials that can replace plastic foams.

- We have shown that with new innovations and good cooperation with university research it is possible to use forest raw materials to produce foam materials, that is something we are very proud of, says Åsa Ek, Development Manager at Cellutech.

- I think there is an incredibly strong potential in this material, we are just at the beginning of an exciting trend where more and more petroleum-based materials are replaced with renewable alternatives, says Rasmus Malbert.

From research to market
Cellutech was founded in 2012 and has developed a number of technologies within renewable materials. The company cooperates with the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC), a Swedish research center focused on new materials from the forest. The company is owned by around twenty researchers at WWSC, Stora Enso, FAM, Bergvik Skog, SweTree Technologies, KTH Holding and Chalmers Capital.

Contact: Åsa Ek, Development Manager Cellutech,+46 702 031 817, asa@cellutech.se 

I seminariet ”Framtidens skogsindustriella materialforskning” som hölls på KTH måndagen den  8 december, deltog representanter från skogsindustrin samt forskare från Wallenberg Wood Science Center, WWSC, för att diskutera hur man med hjälp av forskning ska kunna stärka Sveriges skogsnäring. Cellutech har nära samarbete med WWSC då Cellutechs innovationer har sitt ursprung från centrets forskning. 

Mikaela Helander, forskare på Cellutech och tidigare doktorand inom WWSC, presenterade sitt arbete inom membranfiltrering av vedkomponenter i vätskor, vilket är ett område som har fått ett stort intresse de senaste åren. Flera talare var inbjudna till seminariet, däribland Göran Persson, styrelseordförande i Sveaskog, Marcus Wallenberg, styrelseordförande i FAM, SEB och SAAB, och Kung Carl XVI Gustaf.