4,500,000 tons of pineapple plants
are produced each year on Costa Rica's pineapple plantations
224,000,000 trees
are harvest each year for pulp production
our:solution
pineapple cultivation
eco:fibr pulp
papermaking
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Costa Rica
Worldwide
To combat the huge environmental problem of pineapple cultivation, we at eco:fibr have developed a solution: In Costa Rica, we take the plant residues and thus also the problem of disposal away from the pineapple producers and use them to produce environmentally friendly pulp.
In a continuous research & development process, we were able to optimize the extraction process and make it more sustainable. The process does not use any sulfurous chemicals or harmful organic solvents. If the pulp is bleached, no chlorine compounds are used, only oxygen-based bleaching.
This is then dried and marketed to the paper industry, which uses it to produce special papers such as wall coverings, artist papers or visible packaging.
A sustainable and scalable pulp
with a unique story.
self developed
sustainable process
Pulp from 100% herbal
residues
non-seasonal production
high scalability of the source material
status:quo
Before being founded in April 2022, eco:fibr was a project of the student initiative Enactus Hannover e.V. Until then, all successes and developments in the technical process as well as the business model were worked out as an extra-academic commitment. The participation in the Hafven Accelerators in 2020 was the first milestone in the development of the new business model.
Up to now, we produced pulp samples for industrial analysis with our 150 L reactor in the laboratory.
This phase is now complete.
As part of a pilot project, the process is to be scaled up to a higher scale and a competence center of alternative pulps is to be created. In this project, we are supported by the engineering office aqua & waste International GmbH in wastewater treatment and resource recycling. The Institute for Multiphase Processes of the Leibniz University of Hanover complements us with expertise in process engineering.
With the production volume of 2 tons of pulp, during the pilot period, our customers can test the pulp industrially and we can set the final parameters for the production in Costa Rica.
The project is being supported by the European Union with a total of €800,000 as part of the Lower Saxony innovation funding programme.
next:steps
Pilot period Q3 2023 - Q1 2025
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Construction and commissioning of your pilot plant in Hanover with a production volume of up to 2 tons.
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2-year funding project (total volume of approx. €1.1 million)
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Implementation with two cooperation partners from the field of process engineering and waste water/environmental technology
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Scaling of laboratory scale to partially automated products
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Analysis and use on paper machines by pilot customers
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Determination of process and product parameters for industrial production
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Planning of the production in Costa Rica with the results
Construction of large-scale plant from Q1 2025
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Founding a company in Costa Rica
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Q1 2026 ramp-up to production of 7200 tons of pulp per year
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Scaling through your own construction or licensing for the greatest systemic leverage
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Transfer of IP to other residues and countries
our:partners
Technical support
strategy
Costa Rica
