Victory in an international innovation competition!

Senior researcher at the Lignin Chemistry Laboratory, Dr.chem. Māris Lauberts, has won the international Metsä Group Challenge, organised by the Finnish forest industry company in collaboration with the Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC).

Metsä Group particularly appreciated:

• the genuine novelty of the proposed approach,
• the credibility of the workplan, and
• the clarity of the presentation.

This win highlights the ability of LSIWC researchers to develop practical and sustainable solutions in the field of bioeconomy. The next step is to implement a proof-of-concept (PoC) in collaboration with the partners.

Metsä Groupa is already preparing the prize money transfer to LSIWC, and a meeting is planned in the coming weeks to define the next steps for the project implementation.

Metsä Group – Overview

• Total sales: EUR 5.7 billion
• Total personnel: 9,600
• Ownership: Over 90,000 Finnish forest owners via the Metsäliitto Cooperative
• Global presence: operations in over 30 countries
• Focus: renewable resources, circular bioeconomy, and sustainable packaging innovations

We are proud of the outstanding achievement of our colleague Māris Lauberts.