Project description
Wood composite sustainable alternative to ceramic products
Ceramics is one of the world's most polluting industries, emitting high levels of CO2 and dust particles in addition to producing large quantities of contaminated water. A sustainable alternative to ceramics called Woodio is the first 100 % waterproof solid wood composite material that can be mass produced to replace ceramic products. Woodio includes patent-pending innovations for both composite materials and production methods. The functionality of the material plus its unique look and feel make it an ideal replacement for ceramic products, and it has been successfully used in hotels and restaurants in Finland. The EU-funded WOODRY project will facilitate scale-up from small-scale manual production to an automated manufacturing facility, thereby significantly reducing manufacturing costs.
Objective
The ceramics industry is among the most polluting industries globally, responsible for more than 500 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. In addition, there are high particle dust emissions and ceramics manufacturing utilised high volumes of drinking water.
Given the pursuit for a carbon neutral world, we need sustainable alternatives to ceramics. However, current measures target only incremental process improvements to reduce CO2 emissions in the industry. No real new material innovations have been introduced that are mass producible and carbon neutral, or even carbon storages, for ceramics.
Woodio is the world’s first 100% waterproof solid wood composite material that is mass producible and has the potential to replace ceramic products on the global scale. The unique Woodio products – bathroom and kitchen sanitary wares, tiles, solid surfaces, etc. – have significantly lower carbon footprint than ceramics and serve as a carbon storage during product lifetime. At the same time, Woodio products have a high commercial potential as they are very attractive, highly customisable yet affordable.
Woodio is enabled by patent-pending innovations in composite materials, as well as production methods. The functionality of the material, as well as its unique look and feel make Woodio the perfect sustainable alternative to ceramics, as proven by demo installations in multiple hotels and restaurants in Finland.
The biggest innovation of the WOODRY project will be automation of Woodio production. As a result of the project, we will be able to scale up from small scale manual production to an automated industrial factory, which will significantly reduce manufacturing costs. This is the next logical step towards the global market that exceeds €300 billion annually.
Woodio is developed in Finland by Woodio Oy, a biomaterial and design company.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processesdrinking water treatment processes
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterials
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringceramics
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesforestry
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
00530 Helsinki
Finland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.