The project to establish a biorefinery connected to Östrand’s pulp mill is proceeding according to plan. In December, SCA (Sweden) announced that an important milestone had been achieved with the detailed development plan for the biorefinery gaining legal force. Now it is reportedly time for the next milestone – to submit the environmental permit application to the Land and Environmental Court in Östersund.

Production will process waste products from the plant and sawmill in the region into renewable hydrocarbons. These renewable hydrocarbons can be used to manufacture different kinds of vehicle fuels, chemicals, plastics, dyes, medical preparations, and much more.

"Our mission in this phase of the project is to secure external permits granting SCA permission to establish a biorefinery in Östrand. The detailed development plan gaining legal force in December was an important milestone in the project. We believe this will make other permit processes easier, since the site’s suitability has been tested. The next step is to submit the environmental permit application to the Land and Environmental Court in Östersund this week. This relates to both a new environmental permit for the biorefinery as well as some amendments to the pulp mill’s environmental permit. In the permit for the biorefinery, we’re also applying for a water ruling that will allow a land extension into the water to make room for the facility. In total, we need around 23 hectares for the facility that we want to build," said Roger Östlin, SCA’s Senior Project Manager for the project.

The production volume specified in the application of renewable hydrocarbon at Östrand’s refinery is more than the aviation fuel used for domestic flights within Sweden.

"Whether the hydrocarbons we intend to produce will be used as aviation fuel, petrol or diesel is too early to say. The biorefinery would create many possibilities. The products could even be used as raw material to replace other fossil products in society. There’s no doubt that this is a major environmental project," said Anders Edling Hultgren, Biorefinery Manager within the Renewable Energy business area.