Infinity Fiber
The forest industry is central to the Swedish economy, but it faces increasing demands for sustainability, resource efficiency and biodiversity. Infinity Fiber aims to support this transition by developing new circular approaches to the use of wood fibres.
The aim is to significantly increase the value of Swedish forest raw materials by extending the lifespan of wood fibres from the current 2-3 uses to more than 20, thereby creating entirely new sources of value.
Karlstad University regards Infinity Fiber as a strategically important initiative for both research and industry, with the potential to strengthen the position of Värmland and Sweden within the forest-based bioeconomy.
Today, many forest-based products have relatively short lifespans and are often sent directly for energy recovery. Infinity Fiber therefore brings together researchers and industry partners to extend fibre lifecycles across multiple use cycles, develop new materials and applications, improve industrial resource efficiency, and transform residual streams into valuable products.
Infinity Fiber builds on the Pro2BE research environment at Karlstad University and is being carried out in close collaboration with 14 companies representing the entire forest industry value chain. The initiative is based on a co-creation approach, where research and industrial development progress in parallel, from laboratory studies to pilot-scale implementation.
Funding
The Knowledge Foundation (KK Foundation) is funding the Infinity Fiber research profile together with the 14 participating companies and Karlstad University. The total budget amounts to approximately SEK 100 million over eight years.
The KK Foundation funds research and competence development at Swedish university colleges and newer universities when these activities are conducted in collaboration with industry.
The Research Profiles programme is a strategic initiative designed to support the development of strong and distinctive research environments at higher education institutions. The programme is aimed at universities with well-established research and educational environments that demonstrate clear ambitions for future development. Eligible environments should be coherent, possess recognised scientific excellence, and have a proven ability to collaborate effectively with industry.