Research by scientists of the LSIWC honoured at the Latvian Academy of Sciences ceremony
Photo: Jānis Brencis
The Latvian Academy of Sciences honoured the laureates of the 2025 Most Significant Scientific Achievements at a formal ceremony. A total of 55 applications across all major fields of science were evaluated, and 12 works were selected as laureates, reflecting the diversity and quality of research in Latvia. Among them was a study carried out by scientists of the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (LVKĶI).
One of the most significant achievements of 2025 is our researchers’ work entitled “From Birch Bark to Sustainable Wood Materials: Innovations of Suberinic Acids in the Circular Bioeconomy.” For the first time at an industrial scale, the authors demonstrated that suberinic acids obtained through the depolymerisation of suberin can be successfully used as an ecological binder for the production of moisture-resistant plywood, particleboard and fibreboard, as well as for wood surface coatings and impregnation.
The authors of the study are Dr. sc. ing. Jānis Rižikovs, Dr. sc. ing. Aigars Pāže, PhD Daniela Godiņa, MSc Rūdolfs Bērziņš, MSc Kalvis Liepiņš, MSc Guntis Sosins, together with industry representatives the team of AS “Latvijas Finieris”: Ainārs Bobulis, Artūrs Raimonds Feldmanis and Ketrina Plantus.
The significance of the work is supported by 15 scientific publications, the Best Paper Award in Materials Horizons, one patent, and one licence sold to Latvijas Finieris for the use of intellectual property rights. International collaboration with Stockholm University, NIBIO, InnoRenew CoE, Warsaw University of Life Sciences and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland highlights the European relevance of this Latvian innovation.
