The new Act on Research and Development Funding entered into force in the beginning of the year. The aim is to increase Finland’s RDI spending to four per cent of the gross domestic product by 2030.
According to the latest statistics from Statistics Finland, Finland’s research and development expenditure was 7.5 billion euros in 2021. The overall GDP share of R&D expenditure reached 3.0 per cent, compared to 2.9 per cent in the previous year. If this pace continues, the four per cent target can easily be achieved.
The idea has been that the RDI measures of the public sector will account for roughly one third of the expenditure, or just over 1.3 per cent, and the RDI activities of the private sector will make up the remaining two thirds, or just over 2.6 per cent. We have almost reached this point already, because according to Statistics Finland, the share of private R&D expenditure was 69 per cent in 2021.
Businesses in the forest industry invest more than 300 million euros per year in research, development and innovation.
“Innovation activities in the forest industry do not just mean brand-new products, but RDI activities are also carried out to develop existing products and manufacturing processes, for example in terms of their environmental impact,” says Manager of Innovation Policy Marjaana Suorsa from the Finnish Forest Industries Federation.
The Finnish Forest Industries Federation represents the interests of forest industry companies operating in Finland.
According to a recent patent survey conducted by the Finnish Forest Industries, Finland is a global leader in patents related to microfibrillated and nanofibrillated cellulose, wastewater and sludge treatment, and the recovery of lignin from black liquor. Finland is also among the top three countries in the world in patents related to folding carton, moulded pulp, stickers and labels.
Despite this, the share of RDI expenditure of the turnover of forest industry companies is well below the average for the whole private sector.
“The forest industry is part of the processing industry, and RDI expenditure in the processing industry is not typically as high as in, say, the ICT industry.”
An illustrative example is a pulp mill where the number of product innovations that take up time and money remains small, but process innovations are often born when the manufacturing processes of the mill are optimized for greater efficiency.
The value of forest industry exports was 13.2 billion euros in 2021 and their share of the export of goods was just under one fifth. This diagram shows how exports have developed by product. Paper exports have decreased, but the export values of paperboard, pulp and sawn and planed wood have increased.
New product innovations could also bring new life to the line for Processed wood products.