Top trends in forest & paper 2022
Recent trends in forest & paper focus on sustainability and the use of data and technologies such as AI & ML in forest management, harvesting and production environments.
There has also been a strong focus on circularity, ensuring that the raw material is utilised to the fullest and that energy needs are supported by waste heat capture and biomass utilisation.
After investigating the industry from multiple different perspectives, we’ve noticed these 5 main areas:
Forestry & harvesting
Sustainability
Circular economy
Production
Materials innovation
Investment in forest & paper
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Global € investment in construction. Data from Catapult’s datapool. (Hover to see investment amounts)
The investment in forest & paper is everything but constant. (hover to see investment amounts) This is much to do with the cyclical nature of the industry.
The industry has been facing dificulties for a long time now. However, the rise in interest in sustainability has offered a helping hand to the forest industry.
Now many players in the industry are heavily invested in producing sustainable alternatives to plastic as well as incorporating technology to imrpove efficiency and predictability
After studying the field for many industry players in the recent years, we’ve noticed five major trends in the industry. Let’s dive deeper into these trends!
Forestry & harvesting
Forestry requires the right method of care and restoration for trees. Especially, too little or too much harvesting can have damaging effects for the environment.
Selection of the right method and machinery requires a lot of thought. Equipment in the industry tend to be expensive and changing back and forth is really not an option for most players.
Here are 4 trends in forestry and harvesting that can help to paint a picture of the direction the industry is heading towards:
- Remote forest management
- Precision forestry
- IoT in harvesting
- Digital twins
Sustainability
An important topic across industries. Especially in forest and paper. Many industry players are taking actions to make their activities more sustainable.
Here are five areas that have gained attraction recently:
- Energy efficiency
- Forestry biodiversity
- Responsible logging
- Waste management
- Supply chain traceability
Circular economy
Circular economy is a concept which aims to optimise the usage of goods. It is based on three principles: reduce, reuse, recycle. However, it doesn’t really have a universally-accepted definition.
Recently, players in the industry have been heavily focusing on these five areas within circular economy:
- Recycled materials
- Reusable packaging
- Byproduct utilisation
- Waste heat utilisation
- Biomass energy
Production
The actual production is an extremely important phase of the whole process. Even the slightest improvement can add up to big saves in the long run.
These 5 areas in production that have been trending in the forest and paper industry lately:
- Real-time monitoring
- Predictive maintenance in paper mills
- Resource & production optimisation
- Chemical reduction
- Digital printing
Materials innovation
If you would’ve told any player in the forest & paper industry 10 years ago that they would be making plastic out of wood, they would have not believed you. However, here we are today, with major companies producing bioplastic out of wood pulp.
And not just any bioplastic, but extremely durable plastic. For example, the bioplastic reported in the journal Nature Sustainability can withstand liquids and UV light. However, at the end of its lifecycle, it is fully biodegradable.
here are 4 trending themes in the material innovation under forest & paper:
- Pulp-based products
- Fiber composite materials
- Nano-cellulose
- Bioplastic
Want to find out more?
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