BORREGAARD AS

Their core work

Borregaard is a Norwegian biorefinery company that converts wood into advanced biochemicals, biomaterials, and bioenergy. They specialize in producing microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), lignin-based products, and bio-based chemicals from forestry feedstock. In H2020, they contributed industrial-scale biorefinery expertise to projects developing renewable packaging, bio-based coatings, and sugar-to-protein conversion from forestry residues. Their role sits at the intersection of industrial chemistry and sustainable materials — turning trees into high-value products that replace fossil-based alternatives.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Borregaard's early H2020 work (2016–2018) concentrated on proving that their core biorefinery products — especially microfibrillated cellulose and forestry-derived chemicals — could scale commercially, as shown by the flagship EXILVA project and the BIOFOREVER bio-based products route. From 2018 onward, their focus shifted toward higher-value downstream applications: converting forestry sugar residues via synthetic biology (iFermenter), biocatalytic chemistry (SMARTBOX), and performance bio-based coatings (PERFECOAT). The trajectory is clear — from demonstrating bulk biorefinery capacity toward specialized, functionally competitive bio-based products.

Borregaard is moving from commodity biorefinery outputs toward specialty bio-based chemicals and functional coatings, suggesting future collaborations will center on replacing petrochemical-derived materials in coatings, adhesives, and packaging.

How they like to work

Borregaard primarily joins projects as a participant (6 of 9 projects), contributing industrial biorefinery expertise and pilot/demo capacity rather than leading research agendas. They coordinated one major flagship project (EXILVA, €25M), proving they can lead when the project directly aligns with their core product scale-up. With 90 unique partners across 20 countries, they operate in large BBI and RIA consortia typical of the bio-based industries sector — expect them to bring production infrastructure, real feedstock, and scale-up know-how to any partnership.

Borregaard has collaborated with 90 distinct partners across 20 countries, reflecting broad European reach through the Bio-Based Industries (BBI) programme. Their network spans academic groups in metabolic engineering and enzymology alongside industrial partners in packaging, coatings, and forestry.

What sets them apart

Borregaard is one of the world's most advanced biorefineries, operating at full industrial scale — not a lab, not a pilot plant. This makes them a rare partner who can actually manufacture bio-based materials at volumes relevant to market entry. For consortium builders, they bring what most academic or SME partners cannot: proven production capacity, real feedstock supply chains, and decades of experience turning lignocellulosic biomass into commercial products.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EXILVA
  Flagship €25M demonstration project coordinated by Borregaard — the largest single EC contribution in their portfolio — proving industrial-scale microfibrillated cellulose production and market readiness.
• iFermenter
  Marks Borregaard's pivot into synthetic biology, converting forestry sugar residues into antimicrobial proteins — a significant step beyond traditional chemical biorefinery.
• PERFECOAT
  Their most recent project (2021–2024), focused on high-performance bio-based coatings, signals their current strategic direction toward functional bio-materials replacing fossil-based alternatives.