The Swedish logistics company VSV Frakt and the developing company Biosorbe have started working together to help the environment. Haulers are testing a new kind of forest-based absorbent to clean up oil spills from vehicles in a climate-smart way.
"Through the collaboration, we close the cycle for locally grown forest in a sustainable way", says Hanna Kipatsi, Sustainability Manager at VSV Frakt.
“Our customers sell forest to Rottneros, a local pulp mill, and our haulers transport it there. At the mill, Biosorbe manufactures the absorbent and the same haulers get to use the final product to decontaminate oil in case of leaks on the road or in the forest”, Hanna Kipatsi explains.
All three companies in the supply chain are members of Paper Province, the Swedish forest-based bioeconomy cluster. And that is where they found each other. Biosorbe has an eco-friendly innovation that cleans oil spills, Rottneros provides the raw material and production facilities, while VSV has a large vehicle fleet and several contractors perfect for testing the product.
"This product is extra powerful in wet environments because it absorbs oil but not water. It is completely unique, and we only use processes from nature's own ecosystem”, says Biosorbe's Co-founder and Sales Manager Erik Josephsson.
VSV's vehicles are already equipped with other types of absorbents. But none is made of wood or locally produced. Moreover, they are not as effective. Ten kilos of Biosorbe’s absorbent GreenAll is enough to absorb 90 to 140 liters of oil, which is several times more effective than other products on the market.
After decontamination, the oil can be reused, composted or resold as fuel for heating plants. Thanks to the absorbent’s light weight and high absorbency ability the customer can also make major savings if the residues need to be handled as hazardous waste after the decontamination.
TAPPI
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